


Potter's Protector By mjimeyg

by indian_sqaw



Series: Harry Potter: Aspect of Death [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, This is a Repost all words belong to mjimeyg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-01 10:14:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 256,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20813450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indian_sqaw/pseuds/indian_sqaw
Summary: The spirit of Hogwarts believes that Harry has suffered enough in his eleven years of life and calls in a protector to guide and care for him. Not slash, rating for violence in later chapters.





	1. Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Repost all words belong to mjimeyg

*Chapter 1*: Chapter 1  
It was all that bushy-haired little twits fault. She just had to be better than everyone else and rub their noses in it. And now Ron was the one being blamed for her not knowing a troll was in the building and Harry was dragging him to help find her.

According to Harry they were just going to try and find Hermione to warn her. Ron thought that being friends with Harry Potter would be pretty safe, he killed a dark lord, so no one would try and mess with him and they could all just relax and enjoy life. Not to mention the fame and perks that being famous brought.

But no! Harry Potter seemed to have a desperate need to help people and save them. First Neville and now Hermione. Harry Potter must have a death wish.

The two boys skidded to a halt and could hear the commotion inside. Harry pushed the door carefully open to reveal the huge mountain troll looming over a cowering Hermione Granger.

Ron decided he should ask to be resorted. He wasn't brave enough for this, but Ravenclaw should love him, as he definitely was smart enough not to stick around and get pummelled.

"Ron, any-" Harry had turned to ask his friend for help only to see him sharply turn the corner at the end of the corridor. Harry noticed a trail of liquid marking the red heads path and decided there and then not to think too hard about it.

Harry turned and had a good look at the troll.

It was bloody huge!

Hermione was in huge trouble as she cowered under what used to be the bathroom sinks. Harry spared a fleeting moment to wonder what it looked like prior to being redecorated by the lummox inside.

Harry roared a huge roar… for an eleven year old at least… as he somehow leapt onto the huge beasts back and began pounding away.

Hermione saw her saviour and that he really didn't look like he was having much luck. Her Gryffindor courage kicked in and she started hurling nearby pieces of porcelain debris at the creature.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" She screeched.

Harry had lost his wand by this point as he had jammed it up the buggers nose. Harry was simply holding on for dear life and hoping that Hermione could avoid hitting him with parts of a porcelain throne.

There was a bright flash of light and loud whine that came from the last standing cubicle. Everything stopped as the troll stopped bucking and all three turned curiously to look at what had caused the light and noise.

"Since when do African caves come with indoor plumbing?" A male American voice queried to itself from inside the cubicle.

"Wills? You playing pranks again?" The voice called out as the door opened.

"Aw, crap." The voice apparently belonged to a tall scraggly white man with an eye patch. "What the hell is going on here?" He demanded as he took in the sight of a stunned trio of boy, girl and troll.

Hermione's brain suddenly caught up with her. "Help!" She squeaked.

This also caused the troll to break from its stupor and roared angrily at the newcomer whilst Harry fell off its back.

The man just stood there with his nose wrinkled.

"Jeeze, you stink." He said as he reached up and ripped the wand from the troll's nose. The troll suddenly whimpered in pain and surprise at the move as the man threw the stick away and fortunately towards the two kids.

"Any chance you're gonna walk away peacefully?" The man asked as Hermione and Harry tried to become one with the corner. They weren't sure who the man was, but they had a pretty bad feeling they were about to see a new side of him. The inside.

The troll meanwhile roared in anger again at the newcomer.

"Yeah thought so." He said as he reached over his shoulder and a sword appeared from nowhere.

The man suddenly seemed to spring into motion as he shot between the beast's legs and sliced at the back of its knees causing it to topple to ground roaring with pain. Only it's arms held it up but the man sliced away at the elbows causing more roars and the troll to fall to the floor.

The man then placed the sword back over his shoulder and it vanished. He reached over his other shoulder to make an axe appear.

Both Hermione and Harry were given their first lesson in the anatomy of trolls as the man chopped the defeated beasts head off.

The man placed his axe back over his shoulder making it vanish just as several of the professors burst into the room. There was no pause as the man made two guns appear from his side and they were pointed at the newcomers.

"What is the meaning of this?" Professor McGonagall demanded.

The man looked down at the corpse, then at the kids and then at his guns before looking back at the woman.

"It means the next person who attacks me is gonna wind up worse than this guy." He said seriously as he kicked the troll.

"Please Professor, he saved us from the troll." Hermione said as Harry helped her up.

"Who 'he' is would be one of many questions needed answered for that to have any bearing on this situation, Miss Granger." Professor McGonagall said primly.

"Same goes for you lady." The said still pointing his weapons.

"I am Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster of this school." The elderly man said placatingly. "The lady you spoke to is my Deputy, Professor McGonagall. The other two men are Professors Snape and Quirrell."

"I'm Harry, and this is Hermione." Harry offered.

"This is a school?" The man asked dubiously as he looked around the demolished bathroom.

"One of the finest in the world." The Professor McGonagall said proudly.

"Right… so the finest school in the world has a policy in place that traps two kids in a public bathroom with a lumbering dangerous beast?" He asked with no small amount of sarcasm. He had a look of sudden suspicion. "You're not affiliated with the old council are you?"

Professor Dumbledore look embarrassed whilst the other three bristled at the accusation.

"We were attempting to ensure the safety of the students and moving them to their common rooms. We had no idea Mister Potter and Miss Granger were separated from the group. It is their own stupid foolishness that put them in danger." McGonagall declared angrily. "And we have no idea what this council you speak of is." She added as an after thought.

"Sure… and what foolish actions were those? Taking a leak?" He asked derisively.

"Mind your tongue." The black clad Snape snarled.

The man cocked one of his weapons. "Or what?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Or I'll take great pleasure in disarming and incapacitating you before seeing you thrown in Azkaban." Snape growled.

There was a loud bang and a crack and plaster from the wall exploded just behind Snape. All four professors turned slowly to see the small hole that now allowed them a clear view into the adjoining boys toilets.

"Is that before or after I put a whole that size in each of your heads?" The man asked calmly.

Harry and Hermione were now back in their safe little corner, they knew about guns and had no intention of getting in front of them.

"I believe we have started off badly Mister…" Dumbledore asked leadingly.

"Xander. Just Xander."

"Mister Xander… We were only just informed that these two children were missing and were on our way to find them."

"What were you two doing here?" Xander asked over his shoulder to the two children, never moving his weapons.

"Hermione was upset, she was here during the meal and didn't hear about the troll, so I came with Ron to warn her and get her back to the dorms." Harry said quickly.

"So… no elicit smoochies?" Xander asked with a smirk.

There was a simultaneous "eww" from the two pre-teens.

Xander turned back to the four adults. "So, what was that about foolish actions?"

"I wouldn't believe anything the boy says. He's as bad as his father." Snape declared.

"Severus, enough." Dumbledore said quietly as Harry frowned.

Harry wasn't really angry at the slur; he just wanted to know what that meant. He wished someone would tell him about his parents other than the fact that he looked like his father except his eyes where his mothers. He wanted to know what they were like, what did they do with him, had they ever taken him to the zoo, or swimming, did he have any baby playmates… the simple things.

"I'm curious, who is looking after the students now?" Xander asked.

"The other teachers of course." McGonagall said as though he was a moron.

"So, you pretty much stuck near the kids without heading the… troll… off and making sure it never reached them?"

"We had to find it first!" McGonagall said in exasperation.

"Find it?" Xander asked in disbelief. "This beast managed to find two kids in a closed room. Look at this place! Why the hell didn't you just follow the sounds of mayhem? You should have headed straight for it and killed it, not wasted time moving the kids around a building when you had no idea where the troll was… how did you know you weren't taking the kids straight to the troll?"

"Do you know how hard it is to kill a mountain t-t-t-troll?" Quirrell asked in horror.

"Well, yeah." He shrugged. "Not that hard." He said kicking the corpse. "Took, what? Less than ten seconds?" He asked the two kids behind him.

"Actually… less than five." Hermione corrected timidly.

"See? Less than five seconds."

"They lie!" Snape scoffed. "Just administer some veritaserum and we will know all we need to."

"Severus, perhaps you and Professor Quirrell would be so kind as to let the others know the danger has passed?" Dumbledore said firmly as he realised his Potions Master was not about to be helpful at the moment.

"But-"

"Now, Professor."

The two professors walked out. Well, one stormed and the other slunk out never turning his back on them.

"Obviously you have some experience in dealing with dark magical creatures." Dumbledore said. "Perhaps you could tell us how you came to be in our school?"

"I walked into a cave." He said bluntly. "In Africa." He added.

"That is… most disturbing." Dumbledore said stroking his beard with a frown. "A portal that leads from Africa to this room."

"I doubt its permanent, other people used the cave before me, and probably will after me. It's probably just my crappy luck."

"Still, best to be sure. Minerva, would you escort Mister Potter and Miss Granger to their dorms?"

"Of course Albus. Follow me." She ordered crisply.

"If you will follow me, I will seal this room and we can adjourn to my office to discuss this further." Albus offered.

Xander holstered his guns causing Dumbledore's face to have a look of shock as the weapons vanished.

As Xander was led down the corridors and up various stairs, he noticed there were no light bulbs, sockets or any other indications of electricity around. He would need to get to at least a phone before he could contact the Scoobies. He had a sinking feeling that he was in the wrong time to find a phone… or the Scoobies.

The place looked like a stone castle, at best guess he was at least several hundred years in the past… probably more. He wasn't even sure he was in the right reality or dimension, the paintings were moving and actually following him from one frame to the next… and that didn't even take into account the floating translucent beings and moving stairs.

Eventually they arrived at a stone gargoyle that moved out of the way at Dumbledore's password. Albus offered Xander a seat and a drink. He accepted the seat.

Xander was a little disturbed by the living portraits that he could hear muttering. He was glad that none of the paintings from outside had made it into this room; there were plenty of portraits in this room to give him a complex.

That didn't even take into account the weird red bird with the large feathers.

"Xander, can you tell me where in Africa this cave was? I need to send someone to investigate."

"First of all, can you tell me what year it is?" Xander countered politely.

"October 31st 1991." Albus informed him curiously.

"Aw shit." Xander muttered. "Still, not too bad."

"You believe you have traversed time?" Albus postulated.

"Yeah, by about eight to ten years, although from the looks of this place I thought it was more like eight to ten centuries. I'll just have to wait out until I sync with my own time before I can contact my friends." Xander sighed. "At least you have cable… shame I can't remember any lotto numbers."

"Actually, you're in the wrong reality." A familiar voice said.

"Mrs. Summers?" Xander said in shock.

Joyce Summers suddenly appeared in the chair next to him startling Albus slightly, but the strange red bird started chittering happily.

"After all this time, and all you did for my family, you had damn well better call me Joyce!" She said wagging her finger at him with a mock frown.

"Yes'm." He said sheepishly. "So… how do I get back?"

"You don't. I requested you for this mission." She said sitting back and adjusting her skirt as she crossed her legs.

"Mission? What about the mission I was on?" He asked warily. He was supposed to be finding new slayers in Africa and slaying the occasional demon.

"Someone else will handle it. I informed Giles what was happening to you."

"So I got drafted?" He asked in outrage.

"I'm afraid so. But I am the one responsible, I really need help and you are the only one I knew who could handle it." She said pleadingly.

"Aw, Joyce! You know you only had to ask." Xander whined somewhat annoyed at being manhandled across realities.

"Yes, but my daughter and Willow would have tried to stop you."

"Point." Xander conceded.

"I'm sorry, I must ask who you are and how you appeared in my school?" Albus interrupted. This was not a good day, he was not used to being unaware of so many things happening.

"I am formerly Joyce Summers, I used to be the mother of one of Xander's friends, I considered him one of my own children." She said fondly as she reached over and took Xander's hand.

"And you arrived in my office… how?"

"Technically, I am your office. I am Hogwarts."

Albus looked stunned at that revelation.

"That sounds like a bad disease or something that crawled out of the Hellmouth." Xander said with a disgusted look.

Albus frowned. "Hogwarts is the name of this castle and the school which it houses." He said somewhat absently as he studied the lady claiming to be his school.

"Yeah… I stand by my original assessment." Xander declared with a raised eyebrow.

Turning to Joyce he asked. "Ok, what's the mission?"

"He's just coming up the stairs." Joyce smiled.

A few seconds later and an irate Minerva McGonagall burst through the doors with Harry and Hermione behind her. She was just about to start ranting when she noticed the strange woman.

"Harry is my mission?" Xander asked with a sigh. He had made the leap from teenage girls to teenage boys… at least he wouldn't have to worry about female problems this time.

"Yes, Harry Potter. He has a very interesting history that will make you very angry. He also has a prophecy hanging over him."

"I must ask you not to divulge anymore Mrs Summers. I will also need to know how you came across this knowledge." Albus said sternly, this woman clearly had access to important information. Albus was quickly trying to figure out if he had a leak and prevent this woman from disrupting his carefully laid plans.

"Bite me Dumbles." Joyce said with venom.

"Me-ow!" Xander declared with a grin.

"That idiot was going to keep Harry in the dark. Harry has as bad a habit of saving people as you do!" Joyce said angrily.

"But they're my friends!" Harry said defiantly.

"Harry dear, I'm not saying you did anything wrong, just that other people were wrong in how they treated you. Or didn't treat you." Joyce said pulling the boy into a hug.

Xander noticed the way Harry stiffened like a plank of wood in Joyce's arms.

"See what I mean Xander?" She said knowing what the one-eyed-man had noticed.

Joyce released Harry as two more chairs materialised in the office and Joyce led the two children to sit down.

"Harry, I called Xander here to train you. The man who killed your parent is still out there. Xander will keep you safe whilst he makes sure you can keep yourself and others safe."

"MRS SUMMERS!" Albus roared shocking the two children and Minerva. "Please stop this or I will be forced to take action."

"Go ahead. Make my day." Joyce said standing straight in front of Harry and Hermione and doing a damned good imitation of a certain cop who shared the same name as Xander's new charge.

Xander had a look of pure adoration in his eyes as he stared at Joyce whilst Hermione broke down in a fit of giggles.

Harry and Minerva had no clue what was going on, but Albus was enraged and started firing stunners at Joyce.

They had no affect and simply vanished before impact.

"Now, I think it's time for you to take a small vacation, Minerva can handle things whilst you're gone." Joyce declared as Albus suddenly vanished.

Now, Minerva was nobody's fool. This strange woman had appeared in one of the most secure rooms in the country and then made the greatest wizard of their time vanish. She had no delusions about being able to take this woman on. Of course, she had no idea what to do.

"Don't worry Minerva. I just sent Albus outside the school gates." Joyce explained.

"And you would be…?"

"I, technically, am Hogwarts."

Minerva looked to Xander hoping for an explanation… or even a pinch to wake her up from this surreal dream.

"Damned if I have the answers, I just got here." He shrugged as he looked expectantly at Joyce.

Joyce sighed. "When I died, I was given the choice to have eternal rest or do some good. With Buffy and Dawn still out there, I felt I couldn't rest; I wanted to try and help people.

"Short version. I was offered the opportunity to help a breed of magical humans. I accepted.

"One thing led to another and I am now the controlling and protecting spirit of this school.

"Generally I stay asleep or dormant unless needed. The last time I awoke was about two decades ago when the first wizarding war broke out.

"I've been awake for the past twenty odd years keeping an eye on the war that was occurring."

"Can I assume you are the reason why we were herded here by the castle?" Minerva asked.

"You can. I needed Harry here to meet Xander."

"And Miss Granger?"

"Harry and Hermione have been trying to be friends for a few weeks, but one Ronald Weasley is a bit of a prick."

"He's my friend!" Harry said defending the red head.

"Doesn't change the fact that he's a prick… and a bit of a coward. Why did you place him in Gryffindor?" She said as she looked to the Sorting Hat.

"He's a Weasley. I think I may have been slightly biased." The hat admitted somewhat sheepishly.

"Should he be resorted?" Minerva asked.

"Wouldn't hurt." Joyce shrugged.

"So why am I here for Harry?" Xander asked Joyce.

"Part of my duties, is to ensure the safety of my occupants. Harry comes from a home that is far more abusive than even yours. It was what I learnt from Albus Dumbledore that made me ask for you.

"Harry's parents died trying to protect him when he was a baby, only one year old. Ten years ago today. The man who killed them used the same curse on Harry. It is usually instantly fatal, but it backfired and destroyed his body leaving him as a spirit.

"Unfortunately, this made Harry part of a prophecy that says Harry has to kill this wizard."

"I have to kill Voldemort?" Harry asked in horror as Minerva and Hermione gasped.

"That's what the prophecy says. But Xander here has a habit of breaking prophecies." Joyce told the young boy.

This caused both children and professor to stare at the one eyed man in awe.

"It's not my fault!" Xander protested weakly as he shifted, uncomfortable with the attention.

"It's getting late. Perhaps we could continue this tomorrow?" Minerva suggested as Hermione failed to stifle a yawn.

"Of course. I have arranged for rooms near to the Gryffindor dorms for Xander. Harry and Hermione will be staying with him."

Minerva had a headache and really wanted to argue, but she had no idea how to begin. How exactly did you argue with someone who appeared to be the embodiment of the place you lived in… an extremely powerful one at that!

"Don't worry Minerva, just go with the flow. It'll all be explained in the morning." Joyce grinned as she ushered the two children and Xander out.

Minerva slumped in her temporary new chair until she noticed some of the portraits snickering. She decided to beat a hasty retreat to her own quarters.

"Crap! I don't have any clothes or supplies! Or money!" Xander realised as Joyce led them to the dorms.

"Don't worry Xander, I've been putting money away for over a thousand years. Even my daughters couldn't dent it with a shoe spree in Milan." Joyce assured him.

"You're really the spirit of Hogwarts?" Hermione asked sceptically.

"I am. It doesn't matter if you believe me; just believe that Xander and I are here to keep you safe. And by extension the rest of the school." She assured them.

"Why did you send the Headmaster away?" Hermione asked indignantly.

"Because he is a meddling old fool who thinks he knows best but doesn't even know to ask for other people's advice. He was going to get Harry killed… that doesn't even take into account the hell he put Harry through at the Dursely's." Joyce said angrily.

"H-How do you know about that?" Harry asked nervously.

"Because Albus received daily reports from a neighbour of yours and not only did he refuse to help you, despite Mrs Figg's pleading, he actively prevented any and all attempts to help you."

"Where is that rat bastard!" Xander growled as he spun around and started heading down the stairs. Only for the stairs to start moving away from the floor they started on. "Joyce!"

"You have more important work to do by staying with Harry." Joyce admonished. "You keep your priorities in order young man!"

"Fine." Xander sulked has he plodded back to the group and they continued on.

There was an oppressive silence until Hermione spoke up hesitantly.

"If Harry needs a place to stay… I could ask my parents."

"That sounds wonderful, but he'll need Xander with him so make sure they know he would have to come too." Joyce said happily as they reached the portrait.

"Thanks Hermione." Harry said shuffling his feet with embarrassment.

"Now, this is the Gryffindor Dormitory." Joyce said indicating the sleeping portrait of the Fat Lady. "We'll show you around there tomorrow. For now you two will be sleeping in Xander's spare rooms." She declared as she took Xander by the arm and dragged him to the left and down the corridor.

"I have spare rooms?" Xander asked absently as Joyce greeted a stationary set of knight's armour.

"Hi Jerry, there's been a room change." Joyce said happily.

"Joyce! I take it things must really bad if your appearing to the humans." The armour replied clearly pleased to 'see' Joyce.

"Very." Joyce frowned. "That fool Albus is bringing danger right into the castle."

Jerry sighed and his shoulders slumped. "And he was such a promising young teacher."

"Yes, well. He's taking a holiday, Minerva is in charge for now and this is Xander. He is going to keep Harry and Hermione safe." Joyce said as she introduced them.

"Not The Xander Harris?" Jerry asked in awe.

Xander looked a little worried as Joyce nodded her head happily practically bouncing like a little girl with her favourite toy.

"By Merlin! He'll likely put the rest of us out of a job if he's anything like you described." Jerry chuckled.

"Joyce, how does… Jerry know about me?"

"Every few years during the castles clean up we all hold a party whilst the humans are away. Joyce is always telling stories about her daughter and her best friends." Jerry explained. "We will need to schedule one for this summer!" He stated fervently.

Joyce just laughed. "I'll set it up, you spread the word."

Jerry let them in only for Xander, Harry and Hermione to freeze in shock.

"Erm, Joyce… are we still in Hogwarts? I'm pretty sure this place is as flat as a pancake back home." Xander was shocked to find himself standing in the Summers' living room back in Sunnydale.

"I thought you might like a sense of familiarity, I know I do." Joyce grinned as she headed for the kitchen.

"This must take a lot of magic." Hermione said in awe.

"Not really, just a judicious use of magic." Joyce shrugged as she began preparing a night time drink of hot chocolate.

"I'm guessing that magic is the reason why the windows are showing mountains and a lake?" Xander asked as he glanced through the windows.

"Good call." Joyce teased. "Now, Xander, this is your home now. You will sleep in my old room, Hermione can take Dawn's and Harry can take Buffy's room."

"Won't they mind us sleeping in their beds?" Harry asked nervously.

"Of course not. They aren't even alive in this world." Joyce said with a reassuring smile. "I redecorated so the rooms are more suitable for each of you. I doubt Harry would appreciate some of Buffy's more girlie things." She said as she passed the drinks around.

"I have also moved all your things into the rooms, Hedwig is waiting for you." She told Harry.

"Why didn't we need a password?" Harry asked.

"The passwords are only meant for students so they learn some form of responsibility. Jerry and Patricia are more than capable of knowing when not to open the doors."

"Patricia?" Xander asked.

"The lady in the portrait for the Gryffindor rooms. The students call her the Fat Lady."

"And they still breathe because…?" Xander asked incredulously.

"I have no idea. She doesn't seem to mind though." Joyce shrugged.

"Most of this stuff isn't in Hogwarts a History." Hermione said frowning.

"No, we keep a lot of stuff very secret for security." Joyce explained.

"Ok, Hermione, you go wash up first and then bring me your brush and I'll do your hair whilst Harry washes up." Xander said with a yawn.

"Do what with my hair?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"Brush it of course. You don't usually brush your hair and tie it up before bed?" He asked worriedly.

"No!" She said as if he was crazy.

"Well, that explains why your hair is so frizzy." Xander sighed. "Joyce, you've had two girls, you want to explain it to her?"

"How do you know about girls hair?" Harry asked Xander whilst Joyce explained the benefits of nightly hair brushing to an increasingly exited Hermione.

"I spent the past year travelling with a bunch of teenage and pre-teenage girls. Each night I had major hand cramps after having to brush their hair. I learnt a lot of female secrets, which I promise to share with you in confidence later. They will definitely save your life."

Harry just nodded. He had no idea about girls. He had very little idea about other people in general; Hogwarts was his first real experience amongst others without Dudley making his life hell, although he did occasionally walk out of classrooms checking his shoulder for anyone joining Dudley for his Harry Hunt.

Whilst Hermione was having her hair brushed by Joyce, Harry was finishing up getting ready for bed. He made his way downstairs and headed straight for the small cupboard under the stairs.

"Er… Harry, whatcha doin'?" Xander asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh… I thought I… this… usually…"

"Harry, as far as Xander and I are concerned, you will never sleep in a cupboard again. Xander will be having some harsh words with your aunt and her family."

"Excuse me!" Xander said sitting up angrily. "Sleep in a cupboard?"

"Easy Xander, Harry doesn't need you angry in front of him." Joyce said soothingly.

"I beg to differ Joyce! I want Harry to see just how pissed I get when people hurt him." Xander raged as he marched over to Harry and half carried him to sit next to Joyce as she brushed a mesmerized and practically purring Hermione's hair.

"You won't really hurt them? Will you?" Hermione asked. She knew the law, and knew that Xander could go to jail for that sort of thing.

"Oh, one way or another they will experience my wrath! They will be lucky to escape with their lives by the time I am finished!" Xander said as he paced angrily.

His pacing was interrupted by sirens and lights going off around the house. The lights were blue.

"I didn't do it… honest!" Xander said worriedly.

"Don't be silly Xander." Joyce sighed as she stood up. "Harry, Hermione, wait here, we'll be back in a few minutes."

Joyce led Xander back to the kitchen and the door that in Sunnydale would have led outside. "This door leads straight into the common room just as if you went through the portrait. It will automatically open to the appropriate room or you can request a room by asking. The blue lights and sirens mean a couple of students are getting over amorous." Joyce smirked.

"Hormonal kids? What the hell has that got to do with me?" Xander asked indignantly.

"Call it a small price to pay for staying in the Head of Security's rooms." Joyce grinned as she led Xander through.

The common room contained multiple kids of both sexes. He hoped he didn't need to carry out an interrogation.

"Follow the blue light Xander." Joyce said indicating the flashing portrait frames that led up a set of stairs.

Jogging up the stairs with an air of resignation, Xander found two older students looking very sheepish and stuck under a spot light.

"These are the droids we're looking for… can we lose the lights and sirens?" Xander asked.

The lights and sirens vanished leaving Joyce and the two kids standing there.

Xander had no idea what to say. Which led to the kids getting more nervous as the strange one-eyed man and the blonde haired woman just stood there glaring at them.

"We didn't do anything!" The boy suddenly blurted out.

"Right, so the lights just go off at the same time everyday?" Xander asked sarcastically.

"Damn it Joyce, isn't there at least a rule book?" Xander wailed.

"Yes, Hermione has a copy." Joyce confirmed, then decided to let Xander off the hook. "You know the rules. Above the waist and over the clothes!" She recited. "And you young lady, should not be in a boys dorm room."

"Yes ma'a- who are you?" The girl asked as she suddenly realised they had no idea what position they held.

Xander, seeing Joyce was about to stutter something that would make them lose face with the kids suddenly got in their faces and menaced quietly.

"I am the Head of Security. If I find myself disturbed again because of something like this I'll start cutting bits off and breaking out the chastity belts! AM I CLEAR?" He roared.

"Yes sir!" They both cried.

"Good. Spread the word." Xander said as he started pushing the boy out the door of the dormitory as Joyce dragged the girl out.

Xander stomped out of the portrait leaving a frightened group of kids in the common room.

"So, just to clarify, you dragged me away from my life of dealing with super powered girls… to dealing with super powered girls and boys?"

"Erm… I suppose you could put it that way." Joyce said with a sheepish smile.

"You're lucky I love ya Joyce." He said pulling her into a hug. "We really missed you." He said as he felt all his emotions over seeing her again come out.

"Sorry I'm late, I was caught up with Mr. Filch the Caretaker." Minerva huffed breathlessly.

"Not to worry Minerva, we broke the pair up and reprimanded them." Joyce assured her. "This is now part of Xander's duties he has direct access from his rooms to the dormitories."

"Does this sort of thing happen often?" Xander asked. He really didn't want to have to be the guy who broke up couples like that.

"Not really. An average of four times every few years. Once for each house. But as you can tell the results of their actions can lead to much embarrassment. The others tend to remember and don't push it unless they are miscreants. But once the current students have graduated, the new ones have to learn the lesson." Minerva explained.

"It also happens after a major incident. You know how the adrenaline of facing death tends to draw people together?" Joyce added.

"Great, and according to what you said about Harry, it's likely to happen more often." Xander sighed.

Minerva got the names of the amorous couple from Joyce and headed to give them a verbal thrashing whilst Joyce and Xander headed back to Harry and Hermione.

Joyce put Hermione to bed whilst Xander led Harry to his new rooms.

"Will I be staying here instead of the dorms?" Harry asked softly.

"If I'm to be your bodyguard, then yes. I need you close just in case something happens. It sounds like Hermione will be staying too, so you'll have a friend nearby." Xander said reassuringly.

"Will you be in my classes?"

"Harry, I will probably be wherever you go. If I need to go somewhere, you'll probably go with me. At least until I am happy with security wherever you happen to be staying. Then I'll back off so I'm not crowding you."

"Oh, ok." Harry said as he sunk under the covers. He really wasn't looking forward to Professor Snape's reaction. "Night Xander."

"Night Harry." Xander said as he patted the bed and left closing the door behind him.

Xander waited in the hall for Joyce to finish with Hermione.

"You sure you don't want your room?" He asked as she closed the door quietly behind her.

"I don't need my body Xander. I don't sleep I'm just absorbed back into the castle." Joyce smiled. "Get some sleep Xander, you have a lot to learn tomorrow and I have to help Minerva figure out how that troll got in the building."

"Ok, night Joyce." He said giving her one last hug before heading for his new bed.

*Chapter 2*: Chapter 2  
The following morning Xander woke up at the most ungodly hour of 6am. He hadn't slept in a real bed in over six months and he wanted to have a lie in. Unfortunately his alarm clock seemed to have other ideas. He got up though and found a sleepy Harry and Hermione wandering down the hallway.

"Ok, there is only one bathroom in this joint so-"

"Magical castle Xander." Joyce said as she appeared next to him causing him to jump. "There are as many bathrooms as are necessary."

As she spoke the bathroom door tripled and each one had a name on it for the three of them.

"Aw man! I am not cleaning all three of those!" Xander whined.

"Don't worry, the castle has its own cleaning facilities." Joyce assured him.

"Hermione, come to me in the living room when you are done and I'll do your hair for you." Joyce said as she wandered off down the hallway.

They were soon seated in the living room as the two kids went through their books and made sure they were set for the day.

"We'll head to the Great Hall for breakfast." Joyce informed them. "Xander needs to get into your usual routine. Minerva might want to see us as- speak of the devil!" Joyce said as a knock on the front door interrupted her.

Xander headed over and opened the door to find Minerva standing outside. It was an unusual sight as the view out the door was of a stone hallway, but the front windows showed the first light of the day peeking over the mountains on the horizon.

Xander stood to the side offering the standard Sunnydale invitation as Minerva stepped over the threshold.

"You must be quite the powerful wizard to perform transfigurations of this magnitude." Minerva said awestruck.

"Me? No, I'm just a carpenter. Joyce did this." Xander said.

Minerva looked at Joyce in surprise.

"I am a magical building." Joyce smirked.

"None of our other rooms have changed before." Minerva noted.

"Mainly because I don't interact with the residents." Joyce explained.

"I see." Minerva said as she sat in one of the free armchairs. "Breakfast will begin shortly, will you be attending?"

"Yes, Xander needs to get used to Harry's routine, we don't want to disrupt his life too much." Joyce said.

"I need to make an announcement regarding Albus leaving, but I am unsure how to proceed." Minerva said revealing her true reason for visiting.

"Just tell them he's taking a sabbatical to follow up some research." Joyce shrugged.

"Harry, where's your comb? Or brush?" Xander asked the scruffy haired boy.

"I don't have one." Harry shrugged.

Xander started to growl low in his throat. "Let me guess, your uncle and aunt never bought you one?"

"No sir." Harry said ashamedly.

"I'm just Xander, Harry."

"Here Xander, I've finished Hermione's hair." Joyce said tossing the brush to Xander.

"Lice?" Xander asked.

"Magic!" Joyce grinned.

Xander had Harry between his knees and was brushing his hair whilst Minerva and Hermione quizzed Joyce on the castle and herself.

"Damn Harry, you have the most stubborn hair ever!" Xander chuckled.

"Maybe a haircut would be a help, or a trim. I noticed Hermione has some split ends." Joyce offered.

Harry visibly shrank into himself at Joyce's suggestion.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Xander asked warily, it hurt to see the boy so jittery, like a wild animal cornered.

"Will I have to be bald?" He asked timidly.

"They shaved you bald?" Hermione asked in horror. She had been admiring her hair in a mirror; it looked so good, nowhere near as bushy and in a neat ponytail.

"Mostly. It grew back by morning though." Harry said earnestly. He didn't want to get in trouble with the Dursleys because they found out he had blabbed.

"Really!" Minerva asked shocked. "Harry, come here and bring your brush for me." She ordered gently.

With a gentle push from Xander, Harry shuffled over and relinquished his brush.

After a few minutes careful brushing and examination by Minerva, she sat back and let out a huge breath.

"Well, I know the problem… not really a problem but it is something we must address. I don't want to say anything at the moment but I will be contacting someone to come and meet with Harry as soon as possible. For now just do your best dear." She told the young boy kindly.

The hall fell silent as they entered. All eyes focused on Xander. Rumours had been flying of the one-eyed man who had ripped a troll to pieces with his bare hands and nearly did the same to two students.

Being teenagers… and humans… they of course believed the outlandish tales.

Minerva quickly strode to the front of the Staff Table with the other four hot on her heels. They had discussed how they would do this earlier in Xander's room.

"If I could have your attention please, for a moment." She requested redundantly as every face was locked on their arrival. "I have a few announcements to make.

"Firstly, the gentleman you see next to me is Mr. Xander Harris. He is Mr. Potter's new guardian and bodyguard.

"Secondly, he along with Mrs. Summers will be the new Head of Security." She said indicating Joyce.

"Finally, Professor Dumbledore has taken a short sabbatical and will return shortly, I am in charge until then. This should have no bearing on your classes.

"Please continue with your breakfast, and yes, my classes will continue as normal." With that, Minerva took her seat at the head of the staff table where she was instantly bombarded by questions from the staff, as Xander and Joyce followed Harry and Hermione to their seats at their table.

Xander and Joyce found themselves fielding as many questions as Harry and Hermione were over the troll. The Gryffindor students were all eager to hear more about their fight and to find out more about Xander and Joyce.

One student clearly wasn't happy. "I can't believe you chose her over me." Ron said scathingly.

Harry was a little taken aback at the hostility coming from his friend. "But Hermione was in trouble! She needed our help."

"So she's more important than me?" Ron asked incredulously.

"You didn't need help. The troll was in the bathroom! So was Hermione."

"Why didn't you help Harry and Hermione?" Xander asked with a frown.

"There was a bloody big troll there!" Ron said exasperatedly. "You don't mess with trolls."

"I thought courage was a Gryffindor trait?" Xander asked Hermione, it was something that popped up this morning when he asked what was meant by 'sorting' yesterday and Joyce was explaining the different houses.

"Courage and chivalry." She confirmed.

"Chivalry? Right, so leaving a girl to handle a troll on her own is chivalrous." Xander scoffed.

Ron meanwhile while was turning red.

"He actually shows more Slytherin traits." Joyce noted. "He has a highly developed sense of self-preservation and he is a pure-blood."

Ron had suddenly gone pale as he realised where this was headed. "What about them?" Ron said indicating the twins. "They always look out for themselves!"

Ron clearly wasn't doing himself any favours as the twins looked like they had a whole bunch of experimental pranks they wanted their brother to test for them.

"Ah yes, those two cause a fair amount of havoc in Hogwarts. But, as much as they aren't Gryffindors, they definitely aren't Slytherins. Hermione?" Joyce asked the young girl.

"Intelligence and wit, Ravenclaw. They do like their pranks." Hermione shrugged.

"More than that, they are highly intelligent and are being wasted in Gryffindor." Joyce added.

"Can I ask if I am in the right house?" Percy enquired.

"You are good here or in Hufflepuff as you work very hard." Joyce told him.

Xander could see Joyce was about to get dragged into determining the appropriate houses of all the current Gryffindors. "Ok, enough. If you want to be resorted then let us know and we'll have a discussion with that Hat." He said firmly.

Xander was quite the imposing figure with his eye patch. Coupled with his mysterious background and he easily had command of the students. It was something he had cultivated during his time at the Slayer Academy… great for keeping super-powered teenage girls in check.

Breakfast came to an end and the students started heading off to class. Xander tried to follow Harry discreetly at a distance but both he and Hermione were determined to include him so he was introduced to the rest of the class.

Fortunately their first lesson was Transfiguration. Xander was no stranger to objects being turned into something else, or living beings. Amy had spent several years as a rat, Buffy a few hours, Giles a day or so as a demon and Dawn used to be blob of energy.

But he did find it amusing how excited half the kids were to know it could be done. It was even more amusing that they were excited about turning a matchstick into a needle… when would they ever need to do that? He highly doubted these people even used matches, so why would they even find them lying around… where did Minerva get them for that matter! Xander was getting a headache and it was only 9 in the morning.

Whilst the class was practicing that, Xander decided to ask a few questions.

"Professor how does this work? What is it about the wand movements and words that causes the change?"

"A perceptive question Mr. Harris." Minerva smiled; she very much appreciated the respect he showed through use of her title. "The combination of words and movements help shape and utilise the flow of magic from the witch or wizard."

"So the words and movements don't power the spell, just control it?"

"Yes, in the students later years at Hogwarts, they will learn how spells are formed. They will also learn to make use of wandless and non-verbal magic." Minerva agreed.

"So, these early lessons with words and movements are like… training wheels?"

"I don't believe I understand the reference." Minerva frowned.

"I think Hermione might have some answers to aid us." Xander said nodding towards the hand waving young girl.

"Muggles have a two wheeled vehicle called a 'bicycle'. It is not easy for young children to ride, so adults attach a second set of wheels to steady the 'bicycle' so they can ride un-aided."

Her explanation was punctuated by a piece of parchment with a rough sketch of both versions of the item in question drawn being passed over to Xander by Harry.

"Nice one guys." Xander grinned as he passed them to Minerva.

"Ah yes, I have seen these before. Just never the training wheels." Minerva agreed. "In which case I would say your analogy was quite correct Mr. Harris." Minerva agreed. "And five points each to Gryffindor for successfully explaining this concept."

Xander spent a few minutes wandering around the classroom watching the children attempt to change the various collections of matchsticks. He came across a boy with a round face who still seemed to be stuck on his first matchstick.

"Hey kid, seem to be having a bit of trouble there." Xander said softly as he knelt next to the table.

"I think my family was right… I must be a squib!" The boy whispered clearly in distress.

"Easy there. What's a squib?" Xander asked placing a calming hand on the boys shoulder.

"A person born to a magical family who can't do magic." The boy said despondently.

"But you made into this school… right? So you must have performed some magic?" Xander insisted.

"I can do some spells." The boy admitted.

"Ok, so what's the simplest and easiest spell you can do?"

"The light spell. Lumos." The boy said slightly excited as his wand tip lit up.

"So, definitely not a squib." Xander pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"I suppose." The boy agreed reluctantly. "Nox." The light died.

Xander thought for a few moments whilst looking between the boy and the wand a few times.

"Ok, give me your wand a second." Xander said holding out his hand. The young boy nervously placed the wand in the outstretched hand. "Please be careful, it was my father's wand."

"No worries, it's gonna stay right here on the table with us." Xander said carefully laying it down. "Ok. Tell me, where does your magic come from?"

"Our magical cores." The boy answered in what was obviously a textbook quote.

"Now, when you made your wand light up, what were you thinking about?"

"My wand lighting up!" The boy answered as though the answer was obvious.

Xander picked up the wand and held it like the boy had. "So you just thought… 'I want my wand to light up… so Lumos'." This had the effect of making the boys wand light up as it had when the boy held it. Xander was fairly shocked that had happened but kept his face clear.

The boy just nodded, he still didn't know where this was going.

"Here's the secret." Xander winked at the boy before focusing on the light.

The young wizard gasped as the light suddenly vanished.

Then reappeared and finally vanished again.

"The words are pointless. You have to want it. You just have to know that it can be done, and it will be done." Xander said. "Now, make this wand tip light up." He said holding the handle to the boy.

Seconds later and the tip of the wand was slowing blinking on and off.

The look of joy on the boys face was infectious and Xander was beaming along with him.

"Ok, now for the next step. In front of you is a matchstick. On the professors table is a needle. You need to turn your matchstick into a needle like hers." Xander said seriously. "You now know how your magic works, so do it."

The boy stared hard at the needle glistening far away on the teacher's desk, then back at his matchstick. He then pointed his wand at the matchstick and focused so hard that Xander was worried he might have an accident.

"Easy, tell it what to do. You already know it can be done because you saw the professor do it. Now you just have to channel your magic like the light spell. Practice the light spell a few more times to get a feel for it if you need to." Xander warned.

The boy relaxed for a few seconds then started making his wand light up again and again for a minute or so. Eventually he was clearly not straining at all.

He pointed his wand back at the matchstick and took a deep breath and relaxed. Seconds later a shiny needle was sitting proudly on his desk.

"Now that was magic." Xander grinned.

The boy was ecstatic and was clearly trying to contain himself from bouncing around the room in glee. But then he got a worried look on his face.

"What if the professors mark us down for not doing the words and movements?"

Xander just chuckled. "Fake it! Learn them both and just pretend to do them."

"Yes sir! My Grandmother is gonna be so surprised." He said.

"No problem, what's your name?"

"Neville, sir."

"Well, Neville, here's a hint for the future. Just watch how the adults do things. That will give you a clue on how they really work. I saw Professor McGonagall do magic with no words and no movements. So everyone must be able to."

Neville thought there was probably more to it than that. But Mr. Harris had been right so far and the results spoke for themselves. So he just nodded.

"Well, I'll leave you to the rest of your sticks. I suggest you leave one to the side when you're done and practice changing it back and forth."

Xander stood up and turned around stretching his back only to freeze mid pop as he noticed the whole class and the professor staring at him.

"Er… oops?" He said sheepishly.

Professor McGonagall put her hand over her face in defeat and shook her head. The rest of the class was snickering quietly.

"Ok." She said taking a deep breath. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Longbottom and Miss Granger. Please stay where you are. The rest of you off to your next lesson and I want 12 inches of parchment on transfiguring matchsticks to needles by next lesson. Miss Patil, please inform Professor Flitwick that these three will not be in his lesson on time."

The class silently filed out but couldn't resist the snickers and stares that were sent the way of the four left behind.

Xander was standing sheepishly in the same spot next to Neville's desk.

"Mr Harris, why didn't you tell us you are a Wizard?" Minerva asked with an exasperated frown.

"Me? No, no, no… I'm no wizard." Xander denied hastily. "Me and Magic… bad idea. Ask Joyce! She can tell you, as her daughter would say: 'Xander and Magic are un-mix-y things!'"

"Only a wizard can use a wand." Hermione said primly.

"Miss Granger is quite right." Minerva agreed.

"But… Joyce!" Xander called out suddenly.

"Yes Xander. You are a wizard. It would be pretty pointless and irresponsible to bring you here to protect Harry from magical people and not give you the proper tools to fight with." Joyce said answering his questions before he asked them.

"But I'm a jinx when it comes to magic! You do remember the love spell?"

There was a gasp of horror from Hermione and Minerva.

"You performed a love spell?" Hermione asked fearfully.

"That is highly illegal." Minerva said scowling.

"Don't worry, he was about 16 at the time and in a different reality. As you can tell, he has a healthy respect for magic." Joyce assured them.

"That's not respect! That's pants wetting fear!" Xander argued causing Harry to giggle. "Do you not remember my bestest friend? Willow Rosenberg AKA Darth Rosenberg? She who would destroy the world? How about Ethan Rayne?"

"D-D-Destroy the world?" Neville asked nervously.

"Don't worry Neville, Xander took care of it and it won't happen here." Joyce said as she placed a comforting hand on Neville's shoulder.

"If we could leave the discussion of Mr Harris being a Wizard for a moment… I would like to address another concern regarding the fact that he has just taught Neville non-verbal magic and possibly polluted the rest of this class." Minerva said sternly.

"Huh?" Xander asked.

"Neville will have trouble in his classes due to the fact that he will be unable to focus on the lessons and the techniques of the teachers. Imagine if you will, when you were a baby you crawled. As you got older you walked. Have you crawled recently?" She asked with a hint of exasperation.

"So… you're saying it's harder for people who do non-verbal magic to revert?" Xander asked.

"Exactly."

"Why would you want to?"

"There are spells that he needs to learn to pass his classes and eventually pass his exams in his seventh year." Minerva explained tiredly.

"Would he be penalized for performing them non-verbally?"

"Well… no, but… it's just… not done!" She said as she ran out of steam and objections.

Xander chuckled lightly. "It is now."

"You do realise that word of what Neville has achieved will spread like wildfire through the school? All the students will want to learn that way." Minerva scowled.

"So teach them. Or teach them both methods." Xander shrugged. "Why not set up an additional class and try to teach the kids what I taught Neville. That words are not necessary, but just a guide. Those that have trouble can still use the words in class, those that don't will learn a new skill."

"Minerva, just write up a report and proposal for Albus. He can sort out the details when he gets back… or he can come back early." Joyce shrugged. "I only sent him away because I'm angry with him."

"Fine! But Xander will be helping." She declared indignantly.

The rest of the day was filled with Charms, History of Magic and finally Potions, the first of which Xander decided the Professor was lonely and had decided to try and bore his students to death so he had company. Half way through the lesson the Professor suddenly stopped mid sentence.

"Oh my!" He said shocked. "I'm dead!"

The students thought this was hilarious, as did Xander who was trying to be inconspicuous. Hermione was scowling at him though.

"What did you do?" She demanded of Xander.

"I see a light…" Binns said slightly awed.

"Me? You wound me dear girl!" Xander said theatrically as he did his best impression of Giles.

"Work on your accent… now what did you do?" She asked again.

"Fair well young children, I go now to my next great adventure!" Binns said as he started to float through the ceiling.

"What does 'e mean by 'next great adventure'… what was his first?" Seamus asked.

"Boring us to death?" Ron offered.

Having lost their History of Magic teacher, Xander realised he was the responsible adult in the room. Something that caused looks of shear horror on his and Hermione's face at that realisation. Fortunately, Joyce turned up and dismissed the class until a new teacher could be arranged. She left the job of informing Minerva to Xander.

Potions. Harry knew there would be problems before they would even step in the room. And he was right.

"You are neither welcome nor required in my room Mr. Harris." Snape snarled as he dug his wand straight into Xander's chest.

Xander looked glibly from the wand to Snape, his hand snapped out, snatching the wand from the mans hand. "That is your opinion. It is neither wanted nor considered." Xander returned in kind. "And you can get this back at the end of your class… maybe."

"How dare you!" Snape railed. "I-"

He quickly shut up when Xander turned the wand on Snape, only for Snape to see lightning crackling on the end. "Seriously, I have no respect for you what so ever. I really doubt I'm going to be impressed by your little cooking class, so why don't we just get this over with so we can finish the day?"

Snape smirked. "Very well, perhaps you would like to see if you can do as well as a first year in my… 'cooking' class."

Xander knew a challenge when he saw one. He also knew he could likely fail and make a fool of himself. But Snape really pissed him off.

"Fine, let's get cooking."

"Take your seats!" Snape snapped. "Mr. Harris can lead us in this potion." He said pointing to the cauldron by the teacher's desk.

"Today you will be brewing the Potion of Forgetfulness." Snape drawled as he reached for his wand to reveal the instructions on the black board. Then he remembered that Harris had his wand.

He turned only to find the one-eyed man grinning at him, a very tooth filled grin.

Snape knew there was little point requesting his wand back so he growled and pulled the board down which had the instructions written.

"Begin!" He snapped.

Xander took one look at the board and snorted. It was a cooking lesson. He looked around the room and noticed that certain students were following their instructions from a book. Mainly the ones from Slytherin.

Certain students like Hermione, also had books out, but these appeared to be textbooks as opposed to the notebooks the others were using.

"Are the instructions too complicated?" Snape snarked.

"No… just, preparing, wouldn't want to make a mistake after all." Xander shrugged with a frown. Something wasn't right here.

Xander moved from behind the teacher's desk and calmly walked over to Hermione. He quickly checked the instructions; there were a few discrepancies, mainly minute amounts of quantities or stirs.

Then he walked over to an almost albino Slytherin and examined his book.

"Harris! Stop disturbing my students!" Snape snapped. Xander detected annoyance with a hint of nervousness.

"Care to explain why there are three different sets of instructions in this class, Snape?" Xander asked with a stony face.

"There is only one set of instructions and those are the ones I gave on the board."

"Which means either their text books are wrong, or you are. But doesn't explain why the Slytherin's have a third set in a notebook written in your handwriting."

"I am hardly responsible if the students choose not to follow the instructions on the board." Snape said dismissively.

"So… if I told everyone to put all books away and follow only the instructions on the board?" Xander asked.

"You would be interfering in my lesson and I would throw you out as is my right." Snape grinned maliciously.

"Joyce?" Xander called out.

"You rang?" Joyce grinned as she affected a deep voice.

"Lurch, you are not!" Xander snickered as did several other students. "Can you duplicate this book enough times for everyone here?" He asked as he held up the albino's book.

"Enough! That book is my own private book. I will decide who has a copy." Snape argued.

"I think Snape is sabotaging certain students. The instructions on the board don't match the instructions in the book and they don't match these instructions." He explained as he brandished the notebook again.

"I knew I should have paid more attention to that Death Eater." Joyce hissed angrily. "This class is dismissed, leave now."

"Harry, you stay put at the back of the class and wait for me." Xander ordered.

"So the perfect Prince has a servant now." Snape sneered.

"Actually, I'm his bodyguard." Xander corrected as he stormed up to Snape. "Means, you mess with him, I mess you up." He snarled into his face.

"You don't scare me you pitiful muggle."

"That's your problem. Just remember, you've been warned. I don't take chances with my charges."

"Severus Snape, tomorrow you will report to the Head's office. We will need to investigate your teaching habits." Joyce said in disgust.

She beckoned Xander who ushered Harry out of the classroom leaving a seething Snape behind.

A few seconds later the door reopened and his wand was tossed to the floor.

That evening Minerva joined the two students with Xander and Joyce in their apartment.

"Unbelievable! You've been here for a single day and caused more havoc than Harry's father and his friends in their seven years at Hogwarts!" Minerva ranted as she paced in their living room.

Harry perked up at the potential stories he might hear of his father, but was quickly disappointed when he realised no one was going to tell any.

"I could live with the chaos you caused in my classroom, I can't fault you for what happened in Potions, but how and why would you do whatever it is you did to Professor Binns?" Minerva asked as she tried to refrain from pulling her hair out.

"The dude was dead. And at the rate he was going his students where likely to join him as he killed them with boredom. As far as I'm concerned I just saved the lives of all current and future students." Xander grinned unrepentantly.

"Yes… well… you may soon find yourself inundated with ghosts, I have had five of the current ghosts request that you send them into the beyond as well. The magical world has never heard of a ghost moving on."

"Should have asked the non-magical world." Xander shrugged.

"They can't see ghosts." Minerva retorted.

"No, but they can detect them and observe their effects… how else do you think they figured out how to exorcise them?"

Not having a response to that, Minerva moved on.

"At least we have reached the weekend, hopefully you can't cause as much trouble." Minerva sighed as she sank into the armchair opposite Xander and the kids.

"Actually, I need to take Harry and Hermione out with me tomorrow. I need to see how much I recognise of this worlds non-magical side and I need to see what the magical world is like." Xander said with an apologetic grin.

Minerva groaned. "Don't you think you could do with a proper guide? Miss Granger will probably make an excellent guide in the muggle world, but she herself is new to the magical side."

"And you don't provide orientation trips in this school?" Xander asked with mild disgust.

"Those would be great!" Hermione chimed in excitedly. Harry nodded quietly in agreement; he was still hoping to hear stories of his parents.

"I do admit the education of muggle-borns is lacking somewhat. I would have to say that such trips would only serve to teach those native to our world. I will raise the issue with the Headmaster on his return."

"There should be trips into the muggle world as well. Most of the wizards and witches born in the magical world know nothing about the muggle world." Hermione said authoritatively causing Xander and Minerva to try and stifle their smiles at the young girls attitude.

"You are of course correct, Miss Granger. But we do not have any professors who could achieve such a feat."

"What about former muggle-born students? Harry's mum was a muggle-born." She argued.

"She was?" Harry asked perking up again.

Minerva frowned at the thought that Harry didn't know this, but brushed the issue aside. "I know of some former students who may be able to help. I promise to investigate and do what I can."

"So, can you be our guide in the magical realm?" Xander asked Minerva as he turned the puppy-dog eyes up full.

"Alexander, I have been a professor longer than you have been alive! Those soulful eyes have no affect on me." She blustered.

Xander just kept it up.

"Oh fine! We will visit Diagon Ally tomorrow, we will leave from the headmasters floo after breakfast." She said as she threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Score!" Xander declared as he nudged Harry with a wink.

Xander frowned as he noticed Harry was rather down despite his best efforts to smile at Xander's antics.

"What's up kid?" Xander asked softly.

"Nothing." Harry said trying to be relaxed and not give anything away.

Xander and Minerva shared a concerned look.

"Harry, you know I'm your guardian and bodyguard right?" He received a timid nod. "That means your life is my responsibility, as is your safety. But… your happiness is also just as important. I need you to tell me when things are wrong so I can try and help fix them."

Harry gave a small sigh. "Everybody seems to know about my parents… except me." He said sadly. "Nobody will tell me anything."

Hermione saw a tear land on her new friends hand and her parents training kicked in as she pulled him into a tight hug and started stroking his back ignoring the way he tensed.

Minerva looked close to tears herself, half for Harry's sadness and half for the care that young Hermione was showing Harry.

Minerva stood up and moved switched seats with Xander so she could sit next to Harry.

"I'm so sorry Harry. Many of us knew your parents and loved them. It's painful for us to talk about them. But that should never have stopped us from sharing our happy memories with you, their son.

"I promise to try and tell you a little about them tonight, but I know one of their friends who would be happy to spend time talking to you about them. It will take some time to find him though." She promised.

Minerva sat with Harry and Hermione for the next few hours telling them of all the heart attacks and ulcers Harry's father nearly caused her and how much she missed his mother. There were very few tears as Minerva had little in the way of bad memories of James and Lilly Potter. Eventually Xander shooed the two children off to prepare for bed and allowed Minerva to tuck them in, it was clear to him that she had missed Harry in the years he had been gone.

Minerva returned to the living room from having tucked the two first years in to find Joyce and Xander drinking hot chocolate with a mug waiting for her.

"Thank you for letting me put them to bed." She said with a warm smile.

"No problem. I take it you knew Harry when he was a baby?" Xander asked.

"Yes." She said with a small smile of remembrance, which turned to a scowl. "I was there when Albus placed him on the doorstep of his Aunts house. I warned him they were bad people. He wouldn't even knock on the door and talk to them!"

"Don't worry, I intend to see they get what they deserve." Xander said dismissively.

After a few more seconds of silent sipping Joyce spoke up.

"Minerva, I need you to teach Xander how to become an Animagus."

"He is a wizard, and he does seem to have a unique grasp of magic, can I ask why?"

"Xander wasn't wrong when he claimed magic doesn't react well to him. When he was brought to this reality, his… issues… were tweaked slightly, they will hopefully give him an edge in this world." Joyce explained.

"You mean in dealing with You-Know-Who?" She asked worriedly. "I thought the prophecy said Harry had to face him."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Xander growled. "What's an animagus?"

"A magical person who can change into a specific animal. Minerva, could you give us a demonstration?"

Shortly there was a small tabby cat sat on the coffee table.

"Aw aren't you the cutest?" Xander gushed theatrically.

Minerva changed back.

"Behave yourself young man." Minerva admonished as she failed to hide her smirk.

"Ok, what's this about tweaking my magic affliction and how will it help against the big bad?" Xander asked.

"We honestly don't know. But we will want you to teach Harry and likely Hermione how to transform, hopefully if you do it, it might tweak their reactions as well, and it might just be enough to deal with young Tom." Joyce told him.

"Tom?" Minerva asked.

"Tom Riddle was a student here some fifty odd years ago, he is now known as Lord Voldemort."

Minerva gasped, Xander just shrugged.

"Tom, Voldemort… they both bleed red… right?"

Joyce just gave him an apologetic shrug.

"Right… gonna have to hit the books." Xander sighed, wishing Willow and Giles were here.

"Why would you want to hit books?" Minerva asked.

"Just an expression, basically means to use the books for extensive research… or… at least it's what it means to me." He said wistfully as he reminisced.

"I have a question." Xander asked as he set his drink down. "Why would you want them to write an essay about transfiguring a matchstick to a needle?"

"Provided they do the appropriate reading, they will learn how to perfect wand movements and incantations." Minerva explained.

"But why not make their homework trying to perfect it for the next lesson?" Xander argued. "They could then present their transfigured needles as proof."

"The transfigurations aren't permanent and will revert by the next day."

"Then have them demonstrate the fruits of their practice in the next lesson, or whenever you would normally mark their essays."

"They are normally marked in our free time."

"Their homework is normally done in their free time. Set aside the hour or whatever it is you use to mark their work for them to come to your classroom and show their work."

"The current system has worked for centuries, I don't see why we should change it now." Minerva sighed.

"Because it has been shown to be flawed?" Joyce smirked. "We used to do it all by practical when we first started. I don't know who's idea it was to go written."

"Yeah… the written sucks." Xander scowled. "Seriously, that Snape guy has terrible spelling and handwriting! The textbook was just as bad. I haven't seen anything that bad since research parties with the gang."

"Teaching English was my job. I assume that it simply fell to the wayside in favour of actual magical classes." Joyce said wistfully as she recalled days gone by.

"There are several classes not being taught, English, Math, Geography, the sciences."

"Those are muggle classes." Minerva argued.

"Magicals don't count? Make purchases for sums of money or… erm… I don't know… do math type things?" Xander countered.

"Of course we do, but-"

"You have no contact with nor travel to other countries?"

"Yes, but-"

"You don't do things like… er, use fire, roll down hills, drop things from a height, weigh things, plant things, or have sex for reproduction?"

"What is your point?" Minerva demanded.

"Do you know why you fall to the ground when you jump off a wall?" Joyce asked with a small smile.

"Because nothing is there to hold us up!"

"But why don't you float there? Suspended in the air? What is it that makes you land on the floor instead of float into the sky?"

"I – I… I don't know. We just do." Minerva slumped in defeat.

"Muggles know." Xander smiled as he sipped his drink.

The discussion that followed left Minerva highly sceptical but intrigued. But she would wait till she had proof.

*Chapter 3*: Chapter 3  
The following morning Minerva was not at breakfast in the Great Hall. Xander and the kids went back to their apartment to get ready for Xander's first foray into this new world. Fairly soon a knock on the door was heard.

"Wondered where you vanished to!" Xander said as he opened the door for Minerva and another young lady to enter. Said young lady had bright pink hair and a distinct grunge look.

"Good morning Xander, this is Nymphadora Tonks. A former student." The young lady seemed to glare at Minerva.

"Its just Tonks." She muttered.

"Really? Why not Nym? Or Dora?" Xander asked.

"Because it means I always have to give my whole name at some point." She growled.

"Yeah, but you'll have to do that anyway… unless lots of people only have one name in this world." He considered.

"No." She sighed. "I suppose Nym is more feminine."

"Right, Nym it is." Xander said happily. "So… why are you here?" He asked.

"I take it tact is not something they covered in your reality!" Minerva declared with a scowl.

"It was… it kinda went out the window in favour of…'Information saves lives'."

"Were you an Auror?" The newly christened 'Nym' asked.

"A what now?"

"It's what the magical world call their police." Hermione explained.

"Ah… and no, I was very much not a cop." Xander said with a bit of relief.

"A criminal?" Nym asked hesitantly, she hoped her favourite professor wasn't asking her to ignore her newly taken vows as an officer of the law.

"Nah, I was… complicated. I dealt with things the proper authorities couldn't… kinda like an undercover soldier." Xander explained.

"I'm sure this will be an interesting story… one that you can share when you return." Minerva interjected. "Miss Tonks was raised in both the muggle and magical world. She will make a much better guide than I could. She is also a trainee Auror. This is a better arrangement as I need to be here to oversee the Hogsmede trips."

"Sure… Hogsmede, Hogwarts… you must really love your pork." Xander shrugged cheekily.

Minerva was spared from responding when Joyce appeared behind Tonks and tapped her shoulder causing the new Auror recruit to spin around.

"AUNTY JOYCE!" She squealed happily as she pounced on the new arrival.

"Hi Nymphy." Joyce said as she struggled to breathe through the crushing hug.

The other four looked on with slight amusement as Tonks' hair cycled through various colours.

"And how exactly do you know Mrs. Summers?" Minerva asked.

"She helped me train my metamorphmagus abilities whilst I was a student… but it was a secret."

"Meta-morpha-whatta-gus?" Xander asked.

"Err… the stuff that lets me change how I look." She said thinking of how to explain it.

"Huh… so you're a shape shifter." Xander said causing Hermione and giggle and Joyce to roll her eyes. "And I'm guessing you think Harry is one?" He asked turning to Minerva.

"Very good, Xander." Minerva smirked teasingly. "Speaking of which, Nym, that sounds so much better, I'd like you to meet Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."

"Harry Potter? Little Harry!" She squealed as Harry stiffened as he was engulfed in a hug similar to the one Joyce received.

"Nym, he's not used to hugs yet." Xander warned as he noticed Harry's reaction.

"Oh… that makes a change. He used to love hugs from everyone… have you told Bill?" She asked excitedly.

"Oh dear… I will do that today as soon as you leave." Minerva said guiltily.

"Ok, and Bill would be?" Xander asked as he tried not to laugh at Hermione's head swinging back and forth as if she was trying to watch a tennis match.

"William Weasley is Ron Weasley's oldest brother. He along with Tonks spent a lot of time babysitting Harry and Neville whilst their parents were engaged in activities during the war. Bill was very fond of the both of you." She told Harry.

"You were our baby brothers… we made ourselves a new family name… we called ourselves the 'Wee-Tonk-Potter-Bottoms'." Tonks grinned causing the others to snicker. "You vanished after your parents were killed and Neville's Gran kept him in hiding. Bill was the most devastated, he joined Gringotts to try and track you down."

"I know I'm gonna be doing this a lot, but-"

"Gringotts is the wizarding bank." Hermione answered seeing where he was headed.

"Tonks will be taking you there so the goblins know you and you can have access to my accounts." Joyce added.

"Your accounts?" Tonks asked. "I thought you were stuck here?"

"I am, these accounts were set up before the school was built. It's where all the student fees and donations go."

"But we need that money to fund the school!" Minerva sputtered as Hermione nodded vigorously, she had no desire to see her school fail… she still hadn't finished reading the accessible books in the library yet… for the second time… this month.

"Oh relax Hermione." Joyce said as she ushered them all to sit down for a bit. "There are practically millions of galleons in the account. Xander and myself own the school and the only things that are bought regularly are food and potions ingredients. When was the last time the school brooms were replaced?" She asked Minerva pointedly.

Minerva blushed in realisation.

"Exactly." Joyce continued. "Nymphy, whilst you're out there take them to start ordering some new stuff for the school. Harry and Hermione will be able to help as well."

"I did it!" Harry suddenly squealed happily.

Everyone turned to see that Harry's hair now resembled Cousin It… except it was bright pink.

"Pretty good kid! Took me ages to do it on purpose." Nym grinned as Xander patted his back gently, but Harry still flinched causing everyone to frown at the implications.

Harry's hair suddenly started to shorten and return to normal.

"Oh… it didn't last long." He said somewhat disappointedly.

"And that's where Nym and practice comes in." Joyce told him.

"Right, sounds like we have a lot to do today so we should get started." Xander said as he stood up and stretched.

"You can leave from the floo in the headmasters office, Nym, make sure he goes to Ollivanders. He needs a wand." Joyce instructed as they headed for the door.

"Floo? I'm guessing that isn't going to involve mucus? More to the point I am praying it doesn't involve mucus." Xander corrected.

"It's a method of magical transportation involving stepping in and out of a fireplace." Minerva explained, Hermione pouted that she had been denied the chance to explain causing Joyce to giggle and give her a squeeze.

"Oh… so named in connection to a chimney flue?" Xander asked.

"OF COURSE!" Hermione suddenly shouted in realisation.

She blushed when everyone suddenly stared at her grinning, Harry was peeking out from behind Xander having been startled by the loud shouting. He was having a hard time the past few days. He had never been the centre of attention; he had survived the Dursleys by being unnoticed. It rarely worked… but it was better than the alternative. He was now having trouble accepting that these people weren't like the Dursleys and weren't going to hurt him.

Harry felt a large hand on his back and tensed. He looked up to see Xander staring down at him with a sad smile. Harry tried to force himself to relax.

"Better." Xander said as he slowly rubbed Harry's back.

The group continued to the headmaster's office. Tonks was the first to go through, throwing down the powder and calling out her destination of 'Diagon Alley'. Hermione followed nervously but successfully.

"Go on Harry, I'll be last and right behind you." Xander assured him.

Harry stepped into the fireplace and blurted out, "Diagonally!"

And vanished.

"Ok… that was wrong… right?" Xander asked worriedly.

Both Minerva and Joyce nodded furiously.

"Shit!" Xander jumped into the fireplace and repeated what Harry had done. He hadn't been on the job a week and he had already lost his charge.

Harry was very worried when he tumbled out into the dark room and couldn't see Nym or Hermione… he couldn't see much of anything as his glasses had fallen off. Seconds later he was relieved to hear Xander calling his name.

"Harry, even I know that enunciation is important in spell work." Xander admonished as he picked Harry off the floor. "Where are your glasses?"

"They fell off." Harry said glumly.

Xander looked around, but he all he could see was various cabinets and displays, he came to the conclusion he was in a shop.

"Alright, no big deal, we'll just have to make our first stop an opticians and hope Nym can front us some cash. Stay where you are, I'm gonna see if I can find some more of that powder, we'll try and do this the right way." Xander instructed.

Xander was opening various pots and containers when he accidentally brushed against a gnarled and severed hand, which promptly grabbed his wrist.

"MOTHER FU- I mean… erm… bloody hell?" He said sheepishly as he remembered Harry. "All right you piece of… something… don't make me cut you o- erm… please let go?" He tried as he struggled to remove his hand.

Unfortunately he tugged too hard and the hand came free from its base, which went sailing through the air and landing with loud crash as it passed though several glass displays.

"Oi! What's going on in here? We're closed." A grumpy looking man with really bad hair called out as he stormed in from a backroom.

"Little help here!" Xander called out as he lifted his hand to show the man his problem.

The man stalked over waving his wand and causing the displays to repair themselves.

"Why would you put your own hand in the Hand of Glory?" He asked incredulously as he squeezed the base of the thumb causing it to release Xander.

"I didn't! It grabbed me when I was looking for floo powder. We kinda said the wrong place when we were headed for Diagon Ally." Xander said defensively.

"Ah… you said 'Diagonally' di'nt cha'." The man chuckled.

"Yes sir." Harry said hanging his head.

"Well, happens often enough, but the ministry won't fix it. You are in Knockturn Ally, in my store Borgin and Burkes. I'm Borgin. You just need to go outside and head left, you'll soon hit Diagon Ally."

"What do you put in this…Hand of Glory?" Xander asked.

"A light source, it provides light only to the holder." Borgin said proudly.

"Humph… sounds pretty useful to someone like me." Xander grunted as he thought of how much easier hunting vamps and demons would be if he could see them before they saw him. "How much?"

"500 Galleons."

Xander had done a lot of bartering in his time and knew this guy was trying to fleece him.

"Sure… I'll give you 100 Galleons." He countered.

"I'll take 400 and not a sickle less!" The man said offended.

"Uh huh… 150 and that is my final offer. And before you try and counter let me point out that it is obvious this item isn't selling or worth more than that as there are likely other alternatives and there is a huge amount of dust around it's display so it's obvious no one has even looked at it."

Borgin looked flustered and started opening and closing his mouth indignantly as Xander just stared at him.

"Fine 150 it is." He groused. "Don't touch that boy!" He snapped as he saw Harry reach for a locket. "It's killed 19 muggles already."

Xander could already tell this was a shady type of store; the necklace was proof of that. He had been to many dark places in his reality but there was no society that would actively tolerate a device like that necklace.

"How much would it cost buy your store and all your inventory?" Xander asked. "And before you answer, try not to waste my time with unreasonable amounts."

Borgin slumped at that.

"Alright sir, you serious about this?" He asked, money was money and this store was a dangerous occupation, the ministry was always breathing down his neck.

Xander just nodded.

"I have your word that what we discuss about the sale will remain confidential?" He asked.

"You have my word that I will not discuss anything that may incriminate you before, during or after our discussions." Xander said seriously.

Borgin sighed and began his explanation. "The value of most of this stuff is expensive, but not just for standard reasons, they are also dark, borderline dark or illegal. If I were to sell it I would need enough to cover the cost and to basically go into hiding. I could not ask for less than 300,000 Galleons."

Xander had eventually gotten used to his moniker of 'The One Who Sees', he had discovered that although he didn't have supernatural powers, he did have the ability to see the truth and the lies for what they were. It also gave him a unique perspective on situations. He and Giles had discussed it and concluded that his possessions had worked towards giving him some of this ability.

It was for this reason that Xander didn't argue with Borgin. The man had been truthful.

"Very well, I am on my way to the bank, I will return shortly with your money for the Hand and a decision as to the shop." Xander agreed. "Any chance you saw a pair of eye-glasses? My friend here dropped them when he arrived."

"Have you tried summoning them?" He asked.

"Harry, give it a shot. Just like I taught Neville." Xander instructed as Borgin watched curiously.

Harry took out his wand, thought about his glasses and suddenly got stumped. Was he supposed to call them to him, imagine them floating to him like a levitation spell… he decided that was too complicated as he didn't know where they were so he couldn't imagine their route. Instead he thought about calling them to him like when his primary school teachers called him over.

Borgin was about to chuckle derisively at the thought of this young kid performing a fifth year summoning spell. He was therefore shocked when the young boy did it wordlessly.

"By Merlin, that was amazing!" He declared.

"They're broken Xander." The boy said dejectedly.

"Come on Harry. Use your head. I destroyed half the glass in this shop when I got my hand caught. Mr. Borgin managed to fix the lot without a word. You know what I told Neville, watch the adults. Then mimic them."

Borgin had no idea who 'Neville' was but he was no dunce himself. He could put two and two together and see that this young lad was Harry Potter. He was sure that only a boy that special could fix his own glasses wordlessly as this boy was currently doing.

"Right then. I will contact you after I have seen the status of my accounts." Xander said as he led Harry out of the shop.

The short trip out of Knockturn Ally was quick, it would have been quicker if an old crone hadn't offered to buy Harry. She was instantly dissuaded by the sharp edge of Xander's sword being pressed into her throat.

Hermione and Nym were easy to find as Nym was the only one with pink hair.

"Thank Merlin you found him!" Nym said as she grabbed Harry in a hug which Hermione joined.

"Yep, even managed to perform two wordless spells." Xander said proudly.

"Xander bought this ugly hand and wants to buy the whole shop!" Harry said with a grimace. He didn't really like the shop, it reminded him a little of his cupboard.

"Wot's this?" Nym asked.

"No'ing much Guv'nor." Xander answered cheekily. "We landed in Borgin and Burkes, he had this hand which is supposed to hold a candle but only give light to the bearer. After hearing that he had a necklace, which killed people, I figured it might be safer to buy the shop and close the place down. It's not the first time I had to do this." It was however the first time he had bought a shop. Previous times he had simply destroyed the shop.

"Borgin and Burkes?" Nym asked incredulously. "YOU TOOK HARRY TO KNOCKTURN ALLY!" She screeched causing half the population of the street to stare at them and the other half to move even quicker.

"'Took'? There was no 'took-ing'!" Xander defended. "He went and I followed."

"How exactly can you mix up 'Diagon Alley' with 'Knockturn Alley'!" Nym demanded as she started checking Harry for injuries.

"When saying 'diagonally' takes you to the same place." Xander said trying smugly. "Borgin said the ministry wouldn't fix it."

"Ha!" Nym laughed derisively. "Borgin would never let us in to fix it as we would have arrested him when we saw all the illegal dark objects."

"Well, once we sorted things out at the bank and bought the place, you can officially go through and receive all the bad little doo-hickeys on behalf of the authorities. Should give you quite a head start on your career."

Nym was just standing there, gobsmacked. Most Aurors didn't get a score like this for years… if ever! Xander was handing her one before she had even finished her first year as a rookie.

"Nym dear, close your mouth and lead us to the bank." Xander said patronizingly.

"Yes sir." She said in a daze as she stumbled her way through the crowds as Hermione tried to guide her around the obstacles. Eventually Harry decided to give Hermione a hand which seemed to break Nym out of her daze.

"Please tell me that's not the bank." Xander begged as he noticed the huge white building looming in the distance with script etched over the doors.

"I could… but you wouldn't get your money." Nym shrugged.

"Right… and the guys running this bank, what do they look like?"

"About waist high, pointed ears, sharp teeth."

"And how many wars have you been in with them and when was the last one?"

"Tons, last one was a couple of centuries ago." Nym answered.

"Yep," Xander sighed, "Couldn't be easy." Xander looked around the street quickly. He instructed Nym to take the kids to get an ice-cream and that he would be back shortly. Hermione dragged them along as Xander was the oldest person and that made him the authority in her book. Nym was just helpless and thinking she should call Professor McGonagall and Joyce.

Joyce and Minerva were worriedly sipping their tea in the apartment as they waited for their wayward charges to return, Joyce had redirected the Floo. It was nearing 5pm and they hadn't heard from them. They were therefore startled when Harry fell through the floo and relayed a message from Xander that they might need a stiff drink for Nym.

Harry had been a little worried at that as a 'stiff' drink usually led to some of his harsher beatings from his Uncle. But Xander hadn't tried to hurt him yet so he decided to have faith in his new guardian.

A few minutes later Hermione and Xander came through together whilst supporting a dazed Nym.

"Good grief girl, whatever is the matter with you?" Minerva demanded worriedly as she helped Hermione get the future Auror into a chair. It was rather worrisome as her hair had reverted to its natural mousey brown, this usually meant her concentration was completely shot to hell.

"Xander… Goblins… Burkins…" She mumbled incoherently.

Xander was chuckling away.

"Xander! Make with the 'splainy!" Joyce teased using her daughter's atrocious verbal mannerisms.

"I caught up with Harry fairly easily. We were in this shop… Borgin and Burkes?"

"Oh Merlin." Minerva muttered as Joyce just snickered.

"Well, he had this nifty old severed hand that provides light to the bearer only. I was gonna get that as, let's face it, it's easier to hunt when you can see but your prey can't. But Harry nearly touched something that killed 19 people, I figured the shop was a little too dark. Not being back home I couldn't do my usual procedure of burning the place down. So I offered to buy him out.

"We headed off to find Nym and Hermione, then headed to the bank.

"No one told me it was run by demons." He said frowning at the two older women.

"It's run by Goblins." Minerva argued.

"That's not what we called them back home!" Xander retorted.

"What did you call them?" Hermione asked.

"Something with too many hyphens and a really unhealthy vowel to consonant ratio.

"I asked a few questions of Nym about how often you had wars with them. We learnt back home that if you don't set yourself up as their king by challenging the current leader, they will just keep trying to start more wars. Giles was the king back home.

"Long story short, I sent these three off for ice-cream whilst I conquered the local bank."

"Xander's the Goblin King!" Hermione giggled causing Joyce to lose her battle not to laugh.

"You conquered the Goblins?" Minerva asked in shock.

"Yeah, it's not that hard. You just have to challenge the current leader to a duel and then beat the snot out of him." Xander shrugged.

"What about the other goblins?"

"They tend to fall in line behind the winner… in this case, me." He grinned.

"But Goblins are formidable warriors!" Minerva argued.

"Only if they use magic. But their laws and customs state that all contests for Kingship must be resolved without magic and physical prowess only." Xander winced. "I felt real guilty when I picked up Ragnok and gave him a noogie."

Joyce burst out laughing. "Oh my! Just like Sally did when he had to conquer them!" She gasped.

"Sally?"

"Salazar, one of my adopted sons and a co-founder of this school." Joyce said as she wiped her eyes with mirth.

Three witches just sat there gaping at Joyce. Minerva and Nym gulped at the firewhiskey.

"Leaving aside Xander's adventures in Goblin land," Joyce continued, ignoring the dumbfounded trio, "How did the shopping and learning go?"

"It didn't." Xander said simply. "I spent all day at the bank. Once I'm happy with things here and can leave Harry to look after himself, I'll make another trip. I'll also wait until then before I head out to the non-magical world."

"You're not going to follow me everywhere?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Hell no! You need to live your life. I'll only be following you until I know what this place is like and I am happy its safe for you."

This answer was what Harry was hoping for. It was awkward having Xander in his classes the previous day. He felt like he was always being watched, which he was.

"Did you at least get a wand?" Joyce asked.

"We tried!" Tonks answered as she finally snapped out of her daze. "None of the wands responded properly to him. Ollivander says he doesn't even register as having a magical core."

"He does. He must! He made Neville's wand work." Minerva argued.

"He made the other wands work to some extent, but no proper match. But the tests didn't show a core." Tonks explained.

Minerva whipped out her wand and started waving it over Xander's torso. "Well that is a surprise." She said as she sat back in confusion. "Joyce?"

Joyce just rolled her eyes. "Run the spell over his whole body."

Minerva stood up and this time did as Joyce suggested. Both she and Tonks gasped when Xander's head lit up like a spotlight.

"Why would his core be in his head?" Tonks asked.

"Let me guess, all part of the 'One Who Sees' crap?" Xander said snidely.

"You are what you are, Xander." Joyce shrugged.

"But how will you do magic without a wand?" Minerva asked.

"Same way all magic is supposed to be done." He grinned as he caused a small ball of fire to appear in his right hand.

"Cool!" Harry remarked with a grin as Hermione, Tonks and Minerva gasped in shock.

"See what I mean Minnie? Xander tends to break the rules around magic." Joyce smirked.

Xander could see Harry staring at his hand and focusing very hard.

"Harry, start off with something simple, like creating the light from the Lumos spell. Do it the same way I taught Neville. Start with a verbal attempt and a wand. Get a feel for it, then try without the words. Once you can do that comfortably, try it without the wand.

"Minerva, can you cast the same detection spell on Har-OWWWWWWW?" Xander screamed as everyone else did, Harry had succeeded in creating the light, except it was far too bright for the human eye and was exceptionally painful.

Harry quickly doused the light, but the damage was done.

"I can't see!" Hermione cried frantically.

"Easy girl." Tonks said soothingly as she blindly pulled her closer to comfort her.

"Can anyone see?" Xander asked, far too calmly for Tonks' liking.

"I can." Harry said worriedly.

"Yeah, had a feeling you could." Xander grunted. "Harry you are gonna have to be our eyes and make sure we don't knock into anything."

"Don't worry, I can help, a little light won't affect me." Joyce assured them.

"How on Earth did Harry create something so powerful?" Minerva asked trying to remain calm despite her blindness.

"It's all part of the prophecy, Harry was probably born this powerful and it is the reason Tom was defeated by him." Joyce offered.

"Erm… Mrs Summers… I need to use the erm…"

"Oh, of course dear." Joyce said realising what Hermione was trying to delicately ask.

"Harry, would you head to the Hospital Wing and ask Madam Pomphrey to come here, tell her what happened, maybe she can speed our recovery." Minerva asked as Hermione was led away by Joyce.

As Harry rushed out of the head's office he couldn't help but feel a bit more hopeful about his life.

Harry had never been a happy child, not that anyone could blame him if they knew about his home life. But recently, since Xander arrived, he had been fluctuating between depression and hope. Xander claimed to be able to free him from his relatives and his torment, but he also revealed that he was supposed to fight the man who made him an orphan. The man who made sure he never knew love as a young boy.

But today Xander had shown Harry just what sort of surprises he could create. Yesterday was an eye opener with Xander teaching Neville how to perform magic without words. Today Xander had found himself an army.

Harry had spent most of his primary school life in the corner with books. It was the safest way to avoid Dudley and his torture. He had worked his way through all the books to the point where his teachers took pity on him and provided him with more books from their personal libraries or the local public library. As a result, Harry now knew a little bit about history. Mainly World War II and a few other bits of twentieth century trivia.

Harry knew the benefit of an army in a war. He knew the benefit of information to save lives.

But what he didn't know was how to use an army. Where to get the information from. Maybe this was what Xander could teach him. Harry was not silly enough to think he could fight Voldemort alone.

Harry was viciously dragged out of his thoughts by a painful grip on his shoulder.

"Potter." Came the silky yet venomous voice of Professor Snape. "Still thinking you're better than everyone else? Out after curfew. Traipsing around like you own the castle."

"Professor McGonagall sent me to fetch Madam Pomphrey, sir." Harry stammered.

"And you expect me to believe that she would do so after curfew? Your precious new bodyguard has no power over the school rules. Fifty points from Gryffindor and a weeks detention with Mr Filch. Now, you will follow me back to your dormitory."

"But it's an emergency sir!" Harry knew they were counting on him to get help, clearly Snape wasn't going to help and he didn't even live in the dorms anymore.

"Typical!" Snape spat. "I suppose everything is an emergency and that you always get what you want when you want it. Well not anymore Potter. Welcome to the real world, your celebrity-ism will do nothing for you here. Just like your father, thinking you're entitled."

Snape began pulling Harry down the corridor back to the Gryffindor rooms, Harry was getting desperate. He didn't know many spells yet and he didn't think he could pull off transfiguring the professor into a needle without a wand yet.

So he performed the one spell he knew he could perform, the one that got him into this position in the first place.

Suddenly a bright light filled the corridor and Snape screamed in surprise.

But it gave Harry the chance he needed to escape Snape's grip and run to the infirmary.

As he reached the doors he barged in loudly causing Madam Pomphrey to exit her office in a hurry.

"Madam Pomphrey! Professor McGonagall needs you in Xander's rooms, I accidentally blinded them all." Harry said breathlessly.

Poppy Pomphrey had been the school medi-witch for decades. She had heard all sorts of stories and seen all sorts of sights.

She had never actually had a student come rushing to confess that they had blinded the deputy head. There was the occasional blinding of other students with potions explosions or spells gone wrong. Every year she had to deal with a Wingardium Leviosa gone awry or a banishing charm accident... But usually, the professors were on the ball and managed to protect themselves.

Quickly brushing off her thoughts and allowing her professionalism to take over, she ordered Harry to lead the way.

Back in the apartment, Joyce was fuming.

"Minerva, you have to do something about that Snape!" She said angrily. "I just received word that he accosted Harry and tried to take him back to the Gryffindor dorms and wouldn't believe Harry when he said you sent him to the infirmary! What if Harry was ill and needed help himself?" She said in exasperation.

"Is Harry alright?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"He's fine. He escaped Snape by blinding him like he did you. He's already on his way back with Poppy." She assured her.

"Cool, if this is how he reacts under pressure then training him will be a cakewalk." Xander grinned.

Seconds later Harry burst in with Poppy hot on his heels.

"Minnie, what is going on?" She asked exasperated. "Mr. Potter comes barging in claiming to have blinded you and several others and on the way here I came across Severus arguing with a suit of armour and clearly with impaired vision! To top it off the suit of armour wouldn't let me help Severus, and says he can wait until I've seen to you... Oh, Joyce... Why are you here?" She asked as she noticed the lady in question.

"Harry." She said simply.

"Ah... Do try and keep him out of the infirmary." She half begged.

"Poppy, perhaps you could explain why you seem so familiar with Joyce whilst you try to restore our sight. Harry was trying out a wandless and non-verbal Lumos spell and without his wand to apparently buffer his power, he managed to create a blinding light... hence our little visual issue." Minerva said in mildly clipped tones.

Poppy was not often at breakfast so she wasn't there that morning when Joyce and Xander were introduced to the school. Although she had heard rumours regarding the rugged one-eyed man that killed a troll with his bare hands.

Poppy knew too take apart rumours and extract that barest of information.

"I'll explain whilst Poppy starts with Hermione." Joyce stated. "Simply put, I have found over the decades that it is much easier for me to get to know the on duty medical personnel so that, if I arrive at the infirmary with a student requiring attention, I don't have to keep explaining who I am."

"Then why have the students never mentioned a mysterious woman?" Minerva asked.

"I do require some privacy, the medical personnel are bound by an oath and I alter the memories of the students."

"You created your own 'Sunnydale Syndrome'?" Xander asked slightly amused.

"Summers Syndrome if you please." She responded primly.

"Well, there doesn't appear to be any lasting damage. Normally you would heal on your own but I can speed things up." Poppy announced as she began casting her wand over Hermione's eyes.

"I can see!" She exclaimed happily.

"Any spots in your eyes? Like if you look at the sun?" Poppy asked.

"No Ma'am." She said respectfully.

"I'm sorry I blinded you all." Harry said worriedly.

"No worries, Harry." Xander assured him. "It was a simple accident and not one any of us expected."

Poppy quickly healed Xander, Tonks and Minerva.

"I suppose I will have to go and find Severus and fix him too." Poppy sighed.

"Oh no." Minerva said firmly. "Joyce, can you have whoever is holding him bring him to the Head's Office? I need to have words with him. Poppy can fix him there."

Joyce nodded.

Xander decided to leave Harry and Hermione to their own devices whilst the adults headed up with Minerva. Nym was going to use the Head's Floo to get home and save wandering outside in the freezing cold.

Harry and Hermione decided to go back to the Gryffindor common room and see their friends where they were instantly set upon by their housemates to dish the dirt.

"Is he single?" Was the first question that came from a sixth year girl before anyone else got a question in. One of the younger boys tried to ask another question before they answered but was summarily shushed by the rest of the girls. They clearly had their priorities in order.

"I… think so?" Harry tried.

"Even if he wasn't, it's safe to assume he is now. He left his reality and everything behind. He can't go back." Hermione said sadly.

Several girls clearly had images of the mysterious stranger saying a tearful goodbye to beautiful woman… no one was dumb enough to dissuade them of the idea.

"Why is he here?" Seamus asked.

Hermione and Harry exchanged a look. Hermione was clearly leaving this one to Harry. Harry didn't exactly know how to put this.

"He came… to teach?" He offered.

"He's very good." Neville stated happily.

"What subject?" Alicia Spinnet, one of Harry's new teammates asked, she was trying not to sound too eager. She was doing a reasonable job.

Hermione realized that this could go on for ages so she tried to clear things up and hoped Harry would forgive her.

"He's here to protect Harry. He said something about training Harry."

"He did?" Harry asked, having been out getting Madam Pomphrey when Xander mentioned it.

Hermione just shrugged.

"Where did he take you today?" Percy asked.

"Diagon Alley… Harry got lost and wound up in Knockturn Alley."

"Sweet! What was it like?" One of the Weasley twins asked excitedly.

"Dark… gloomy." Harry shrugged.

"Did you buy anything?" The other twin asked.

"Xander bought a shop." Harry answered wondering if that counted.

"He bought a shop?" The first twin asked.

"As in… the whole shop?" The second asked.

"Which one?" They asked together.

"Erm…"

"Borgin and Burkes." Hermione answered.

"That's one of the darkest shops there is!" Percy exclaimed. "The Ministry has been trying to get in there to shut it down for years."

"He said he is going to let Nym handle that. She's a trainee Auror." Harry said proud of his new friend.

"Seems like something a seasoned Auror should do." Percy said with a frown.

"Everyone has to start somewhere, and I am sure Xander will help her." Hermione retorted primly.

Percy considered this and conceded her point.

"Could you ask him if he'd be willing to let me help as a note taker? It would be good work experience and look good on my resume." He asked.

"Ok." Harry said simply.

"He might have the goblins help." Hermione warned.

"Why would they help? Are there goblin artefacts involved?" Percy asked. "Goblins don't usually do that unless there is a lot of money involved."

"Xander's their new king!" Harry said standing taller and grinning.

Several of the younger years were wowing and ahhing. The older years looked confused and skeptical.

"Define…'king'." A seventh year boy asked.

Harry and Hermione shared a look.

"He challenged the goblin leader to a fight, he beat the goblin leader and now they do what he says." Harry summarised.

"Good definition." One of the twins remarked.

"Dean said he was in your classes, will he be in ours?" An older girl asked hopefully.

"Probably not. He's only going to be a few more of Harry's. He said he just wanted to make sure they were safe and see what Harry was learning." Hermione answered.

"Do you think he would teach me some more magic?" Neville asked with a hint of desperation.

"I don't know. Depends on how busy he is… doing whatever he will be doing." Harry said apologetically.

"Where were you and Granger last night?" Ron asked slightly sullenly, it was bad enough Harry had abandoned him to fight a troll, but now he was being left out altogether.

"Xander has his own rooms, he says we have to stay in his spare bedrooms." Hermione answered tightly. She still hadn't forgiven Ron for the nasty things he had said. Not that he had actually apologized.

"What are they like?" Lavender asked.

"Like a home… a normal home. They don't look like they belong in a castle." Hermione answered.

"Ok, that's enough. It's getting close to curfew. You two had better make your way back to your rooms." Percy said authoritatively breaking up the Q&A session.

"Yeah, wouldn't want Snape or Filch to catch ya." One of the twins joked.

"Harry already blinded Snape with a wandless Lumos." Hermione said proudly.

"That's impossible!" A seventh year boy exclaimed. "First years can't do wandless magic and a Lumos wouldn't blind a mouse."

"Harry's does." Hermione retorted with a scowl.

"Yeah? Prove it." Ron said snidely.

"Yes, because that would be really smart. Blinding everyone here just to prove Harry can." Hermione returned sarcastically.

Percy stepped in and physically shepherded the two first years to the door. He intended to keep an eye on these two. Percy was very ambitious and they were already well connected, he could learn a lot around them, even if they were only first years. He also had a personal reason for doing so. He knew his brother would want to know he had seen Harry, he had been searching for years. Percy was worried though as Bill hadn't returned his owl that he had sent on the 1st of September when he discovered Harry Potter had returned to the wizarding world. He resolved to speak to Professor McGonagall and ask to use the Floo. He normally wouldn't stoop to asking for such high privileges for personal matters, but this was important to his brother.

Whilst Harry and Hermione were undergoing their interrogation, Severus Snape was being dealt with in the Head's Office.

"I want that Potter brat expelled! Nay! I want charges brought against him for attacking a teacher!" Snape raged having had his eyes fixed. Poppy had left not wanting to stick around but Nym refused to leave.

"He was defending himself, Severus." Minerva objected. "Something he shouldn't have had to do as you had no business interfering with him. He wasn't out after curfew or a place where he shouldn't have been."

"Of course if you really want to charge him we could use veritaserum to get the truth." Nym offered.

"Yes!" Snape declared triumphantly. "Let's do that. Dose the boy with veritaserum and we'll get details of all his crimes, I can get some from my personal stores. It seems you're not as dumb as you look." Had sneered at Nym.

Nym ignored the sneer and jibe but grinned like the cat that got the cream. "Oh no, we never use that stuff on children, we have to use it on the accusing or accused adult."

Snape paled. "Then we will forego that route for now." He said hastily.

"That may not be an option. You just admitted to possessing a highly restricted and regulated substance… as a sworn officer I must take you in for questioning." She said practically bouncing with glee.

"You're just a trainee. You don't have the authority." Snape spat.

"No, but I do have the obligation to report it."

"And I have the authority to hold you until a full Auror can arrive." Minerva said with a scowl.

"I will not stand for this! Albus will hear of this when he returns." Snape said angrily.

He started to make for the door only to find Xander blocking his path.

"Take a seat." He said calmly.

The look in the healthy eye of the man blocking his escape was enough to make the surly potions master comply.

"Nym, can you call someone in on the… Floo?" Xander asked.

"I can call my partner in. Kinsley Shacklebot, he's a full Auror and my trainer."

"If that's ok with you Minerva, I'll keep Professor Snape company until he arrives." Xander said, his eyes never leaving Snape.

Minerva gave Nym a nod and she headed for the Floo.

"Minerva, you might want to look into a new Potions Teacher. Neither Joyce nor I will let this man near children again. The only way he's gonna stay in this castle is in a cell in the dungeons." Joyce who was scowling in the corner was nodding but the various portraits around the room were also crying out their agreement.

"Oh dear. I don't know of any capable potions teachers. None that I would trust." She said worriedly.

Snape couldn't help but grin at this.

"I could ask the goblins, they could find someone to take over the history classes too." He offered.

"That should be fine." Minerva said with relief.

"Ha! The board of governors will never accept that and neither will the parents or Albus." Snape laughed derisively.

"Then we can just drop the subjects from the official curriculum and offer it as an extra-curricular activity." Minerva retorted.

Any further discussion was halted by the arrival of a tall black man with a gold earring.

Nym made quick introductions before they got down to business.

"We can take him in for questioning, but we will need permission from the school to search the dungeons." Kinsley warned.

"Xander can give you that. He owns the school." Joyce offered.

"I do?"

"He does?" Various occupants of the room both living and painted exclaimed.

Joyce walked over to one of the portraits. It was a very crude and ancient looking painting and the figure was barely discernable as human, having almost leonine features.

"I require my documents." She said formerly.

"Of course My Lady." The portrait said with a gravely voice as the frame swung forward to reveal a hidden compartment.

Joyce reached in and removed the box contained within and took it to the desk.

"I am Lady Dowager Hogwarts. These are my documents of ownership and headship of the School of Hogwarts. They can be verified in the usual manner. A bloodline test will show that Alexander Harris is my heir and Lord Hogwarts." She said formerly as she handed over a set of documents to the tall man.

Kinsley took this all in stride despite the looks of disbelief from the others.

"Tonks, pay close attention to these spells." He ordered his trainee.

A few swishes of his wand and the documents glowed a bright green. Kinsley then turned to Xander.

"In order to test your bloodline I will need a drop of your blood on the tip of my wand." Kingsley asked respectfully.

Xander shrugged and reached behind his waist and pulled a sharp dagger from nowhere.

"Wow! Where did you hide that?" Nym asked.

"Not entirely sure. A friend set it up for me, something about a pocket dimension… I just reach in and retrieve what I want." Xander frowned, wondering if he could set that up himself now. Obviously something useful for Harry and Hermione, that girl carried far too many books. She was like a mini Willow.

"Tonks, pay attention." Kinsley admonished now that he had the blood on his wand.

He began to incant slowly as he gently swished his wand through the air. Eventually Xander's name appeared:

Alexander Lavelle Harris – Lord Hogwarts

Xander groaned. "Couldn't have magic'd that away?" He whined at Joyce who just stuck her tongue out at him.

Meanwhile the spell continued, only instead of his parent's names the spell added a single name above his:

Joyce Summers – Lady Hogwarts

"Immaculate conception?" He asked Joyce with a grin.

She just shrugged sheepishly.

"Does this mean I can call you mom?" He asked cheekily.

"Any time you want, I always wanted to adopt you." She said with a sad smile. "I knew about your parents, but that blasted Sunnydale Syndrome kept cutting me off and redirecting me."

Xander just strode over and pulled her into a hug.

"Oh somebody kill me." Snape groaned in disgust.

"Oh oh! Me! Me!" Nym said jumping excitedly and causing Snape to pale and the others to chuckle.

"Sorry Tonks, but even if he signed a confession it would be up to a Dementor." Kinsley said sympathetically.

"Oh poo." She said sulkily as she crossed her arms and stamped her foot.

"I have confirmed the veracity of the documents and the holders of the documents. I also see that they have copies filed at the ministry and Gringotts so I won't need copies myself." Kingsley said handing the papers back to Joyce, who disengaged from Xander and accepted them with a smile before placing them back behind the portrait.

"Then you have my permission to search the quarters, work areas and storage units of Severus Snape." Xander offered.

"Excellent. Tonks and I will transfer him to a holding cell at the Ministry and return immediately to conduct the search." Kingsley said with a smile. "If we find what we think we will, then Snape will undergo questioning by veritiserum."

Snape managed to pale even further. He even took on a hint of green.

Snape was made to surrender his wand and then frog marched through the Floo and out of the castle by Nym and Kingsley.

"I can see it will be a long night." Minerva sighed.

"I can always handle this if you like Minerva." Xander offered.

"It is kind of you to offer, Xander, but as acting Head, I really should be present as well." Minerva said regretfully.

"Well, whilst you two are sorting that out, I'll go and make sure Harry and Hermione are ok and that Harry hasn't blinded anyone else." Joyce teased as she vanished.

*Chapter 4*: Chapter 4  
Minerva was tired enough the next day that she nearly resorted to taking a Pepper-Up potion. But she refrained… barely. Xander was used to long nights and no sleep and he was his usual chipper self. Minerva spent most of breakfast scowling at him.

Kingsley and Nym had found all manner of illegal potions and potions ingredients. That alone was enough to place him in Azkaban for several years. But the dark objects added decades on top. Then there was his journal.

Severus Snape was a meticulous note keeper. For all his lack of skills as a teacher, he excelled as a Potions Master, and that meant keeping thorough documentation.

This also extended to the rest of his life. His journal detailed all the crimes he committed against children, fortunately he seemed to refrain from sexual deviancy, but he was still prone to causing mental and physical harm when he could get away with it. But the worst was the confirmation and confession that he was a Death Eater. Kingsley had explained to Xander just what a Death Eater was. It carried a mandatory life sentence in Azkaban.

He was subsequently strip searched and found to have the Dark Mark.

Things were not looking good for Severus Snape, Kingsley promised to keep them informed and was quite pleased to say that this would be a career maker for both him and Nym.

Xander intended to leave behind the nastiness of the nights revelations and take the kids and Nym into non-magical London. Harry desperately needed new clothes that fit and didn't have holes. He was currently sitting in the living room waiting for the kids to go to breakfast before meeting Nym. He had flipped on the TV to the news to try and get used to being back in 1991. He snickered to himself as he realized that technically, he was about the same age as Harry and Hermione. He grabbed a log from the fire and began whittling a stake just to have something to do.

A few minutes later Hermione came bounding down the stairs where she saw Xander and stopped.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" She practically screamed.

Xander was startled into a defensive position on his feet. "It's just a log from the fire! Honest!" He said anxiously.

Hermione just stared at him in confusion. "No, the TV! You can't use electronics around magic." She explained.

Xander looked between Hermione and the TV, currently showing the BBC morning news. "You sure about that? 'Cause looks like you can to me."

Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but found she had nothing to retort with.

Xander thought Hermione might have a nervous breakdown as her knowledge betrayed her, so he called in an expert.

"Joyce?" The aforementioned Lady of Hogwarts appeared. "Hermione says you can't use electricity around magic… the TV says otherwise, care to explain?"

"Ah, yes. That used to be true when electricity was first discovered. But with all the improvements in insulation and conduction, it's no longer true. But magical humans are far too narrow minded to believe otherwise. They look down on non-magicals and believe them to be incapable of little more than writing their names." She said sadly.

"Here's hoping they never piss off a nuclear country." Xander snorted.

Harry soon joined them and they headed for breakfast whilst Hermione was grilling Joyce about phones and other electrical devices.

Xander joined Minerva at the staff table with Joyce, leaving the two kids to spend the morning with their friends.

The three adults fielded questions from the staff regarding last nights events. Nym joined them for breakfast and a little before 10am they headed out. Being a Sunday, the shopping hours were shorter, only 10am to 4pm. In some cases 3pm. They headed into the heart of London where Nym and Hermione extolled the virtues of Harrods. Xander had heard nightmares of the illustrious shop from his friends when they had stayed in London after the fall of Sunnydale. He was very worried.

He and Harry were subjected to four hours of clothes shopping for the pair of them before Xander put a stop to it saying they needed to get more things than clothes.

Ironically they found a much better selection in lower range shops like British Homestores and Marks and Spencers. After all, Harry's casual wear didn't need to be of royal bearing.

Or cost as much.

Xander spent the following two hours buying a range of movies to aid in Harry's education. Everything from Alien to Zulu. Xander was disappointed by the fact that he had arrived several years too early for DVDs, but resolved to have the goblins begin investing in various companies that he knew were due to make millions. It was still a gamble as he didn't know how much this reality would deviate from his own.

It was an exhausted group that arrived back at the castle that evening. Xander was worried that Harry had been traumatized by the whole shopping deal, but he was still asking Nym and Hermione questions. Xander realized during dinner that he hadn't spoken with the goblins yet about replacement teachers.

He and Minerva left Nym with the kids as they Floo called a goblin advisor to discuss what or who was available.

It was eventually decided that goblin teachers would be provided for Potions and History of Magic. Xander eventually asked about Muggle Studies.

"We can provide a teacher for that as well. Goblins have many agents in the muggle world and we are quite capable of blending in with a simple glamour charm." Bardot, their advisor explained.

"Cool, that seems to be the extent of what we need for now." Xander said with relief.

"The new professors can be here first thing in the morning. I trust that it will be acceptable if they merely commute between their homes and Hogwarts, My Lord?" Bardot asked.

"No problem with me." Xander shrugged.

Minerva agreed so the deals were set. Bardot returned to Gringotts and Xander decided to indulge in an early night.

The following week passed without much incident. Xander only had a few more lessons to observe before he was comfortable with leaving Harry to his own devices. He was not too happy with the DADA teacher. Something about him set Xander off.

The majority of students now looked upon Xander as something akin to a deity. Both Flitwick and McGonagall now issued practical work more often than they did essays. Joyce ran a writing workshop every evening for an hour.

Slytherins and other purebloods seemed to find themselves in detention most of the time as they had trouble accepting a full goblin as a teacher.

Harry introduced Xander and Hermione to Hagrid. The pair instantly bonded over each other's stories. Hagrid would tell tales of his adventures with animals and Xander regaled him with his missions. Harry and Hermione sat listening, enraptured.

By Thursday, Xander was happy enough with the castle and Harry's safety that he began making solo forays into the world to conduct business in both worlds.

Saturday was a big day for Harry. It was his first Quidditch match. Against Slytherin as well. Whilst getting ready for breakfast Xander was quizzing Minerva on the sport and trying to get a grasp for the game. Harry was listening along as he had never even seen a match.

Hermione encouraged Harry to eat on Saturday morning, but his nerves were getting the better of him. Xander could see the worry on both his charges faces so he decided to have a word with them.

"Harry, not eating?" He asked conversationally as he slipped into a seat on Harry's right at the Gryffindor table.

Harry just shook his head.

"Nervous?"

Harry responded with a timid nod.

"If I understand this right, your job today is to sit on a broom and catch the… snitch, whilst everyone else is playing a fast game below you?"

Harry gave another nod.

"Sounds like everyone will be watching them not you… so you can just relax up there and keep your eyes open." Xander mused. "Try and eat some toast at least, get something in you."

Xander gave him a pat on the shoulder and tossed a wink at Hermione. Much to Hermione's relief, Harry started nibbling on his toast.

"What did you say to him?" Minerva asked curiously.

"I just pointed out that he won't be doing anything interesting enough for people to be watching him." Xander shrugged as he copied Harry by nibbling on his toast.

"That is until they see the snitch, then everyone will be watching him." Minerva pointed out.

"Yeah, but by that point he'll be too busy to notice." Xander grinned.

Xander walked with Minerva and Joyce down to the stands as Minerva told of some of her antics as a Chaser during her schoolgirl days. They were seated by a young boy with dreadlocks named Lee Jordan. According to Minerva, if she didn't sit behind him he tended to become slightly unruly with the commentary.

As the players took their places Xander became very uneasy as he saw how high Harry was going. He squashed it quickly, he was trying not to smother the boy, but it was hard not to love him… unless you were a Slytherin.

Xander soon got caught up in the game, even to the point of occasionally forgetting Harry was up there.

After thirty minutes and no sign of the snitch a scream was heard from the Gryffindor corner.

"Harry!" He recognized Hermione's voice immediately. He followed her gaze to see Harry hanging from his bucking broom.

"POTTER HAS LOST CONTROL OF HIS BROOM AND HIS HANGING ON FOR DEAR LIFE!" Jordan announced

"Is the floor of the pitch safe for him to fall on?"

"It's just regular grass and dirt." Joyce said worriedly.

"DAMN IT!" Xander shouted in frustration and worry.

Xander had no experience with magic really. He was happy to leave it in the capable hands of Willow. But he knew he could do magic. Just that morning he had been juggling fire and water balls again. He decided to practice what he taught Neville and Harry.

He threw his hand out towards the floor of the pitch and was relieved when a blue beam struck the ground. The students and staff gasped in shock at the display of raw power skill.

Xander jumped onto the rails of the stand and leapt off curling into a ball as he fell thirty feet to the floor. There were cries of horror as they watched him fall only for the ground to dip severely as he landed as though it were a trampoline. The floor gently rose up leaving Xander curled on the grass.

"ERM… THERE'S A WIZARD ON THE PITCH… DOES HE COUNT AS A STREAKER?"

Phase one of his 'carefully laid out plan' complete he nodded to himself and closed his eyes. He felt for the power he usually experienced when casting and imagined it surrounding him. He already created fire and water, it was time for him to move on to air.

There were more gasps from the stands and Xander opened his eyes. He was ecstatic that he had achieved his goal. He refocused his eyes on Harry and let his instincts take over.

"Does Xander know that Wizards can't fly without brooms or carpets?" Minerva asked.

"I really don't think he cares." Joyce said absently as the two witches along with the rest of the school and players watched him fly.

"IF HE CAN TEACH US ALL THAT TRICK THEN THE NEXT MATCH WILL BE A CORKER!" Jordan exclaimed.

Xander zoomed up to Harry and didn't pause as he plucked him from his broom.

"Xander? Where's your broom?" Harry asked worriedly. Xander was currently holding him under his armpits.

"What broom?" Xander grinned.

"How are you doing this? Hermione said Wizards can't make themselves fly!"

"That girl needs to realize that the people who write the books are human… mostly… they make mistakes and the don't know everything." Xander said with mild exasperation. She was definitely a mini-Willow. "Ok, this is same concept as the Lumos spell and everything else. You don't have a wand so you just decide where you want the magic to come from."

Xander had been trying to break Harry, Hermione and Neville of relying on the tip of their wands as the source of their magic. He explained that if the didn't have the wands they could use any part of their body to produce magic. This had led to a very rude discussion on magical flatulence. Xander had managed to catch himself before he moved onto… other body parts. He'd save it for when they were older.

"What is it that keeps us from floating up into space?"

"The gravity!" Harry said excitedly, he had loved the various science experiments at primary school.

"Right, so all you need to do is imagine that gravity doesn't apply."

Harry closed his eyes and followed Xander's instructions.

Xander could feel the magic pouring out of Harry. He suddenly heard shrieks below him, he looked down to see the students beginning to float upwards.

"Erm… Harry, I want you to very slowly release your magic and relax." Xander said softly.

Slowly the students were lowered back down. Harry opened his eyes and let out a breath.

"Did I do it?" He asked eagerly.

"You did something." Xander said with a bemused smirk. "You levitated the entire student body."

"I did? Why did I do that?" He asked in bewilderment.

Xander snorted. "Because the average witch or wizard is as powerful as a light bulb… you are as powerful as a nuclear power plant." Xander explained. "You still need to learn control, try again, but don't try so hard, you only need a little bit of power."

Harry shrugged and closed his eyes again. Xander felt the change and gently lowered his arms leaving Harry floating there.

"Nice work!" He said proudly.

Harry opened his eyes and was thrilled to find himself floating on his own. He immediately started doing loops.

"Ok, Harry. We better head down now. I think the game has been called on account of rogue-" He was interrupted as Harry's hand snatched past Xander's ear and came back with the snitch. "-broom. Or that works." He shrugged.

"AND POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH! DOES THAT ACTUALLY COUNT?" Came the confused announcement.

"What do we do with my broom?"

Xander looked at the now stationary broom. "You head down to Joyce and Hermione, they are probably worried sick. I'll get your broom, Minerva will need to examine it."

Harry was practically mobbed as he reached Minerva and Joyce. He was hit by a brunette missile as Hermione launched herself at him. She had been terrified her friend would fall. Joyce was close behind and Minerva had to force herself not to join them, it wouldn't look right in front of the other students. She would hug the stuffing out of him later.

Xander grabbed the broom, relieved that it didn't hold any resistance, he then headed down to the pitch.

"Oi! Xander!" George Weasley called out from his position floating next to his brother. "Is that ground still safe to fall on?"

"Pretty much. Figured I'd leave it for future matches." Xander shrugged as he paused in mid-air.

The twins looked at each other grinning before they literally leapt off their brooms causing more screams from the stands.

Having seen Xander and the twins successfully and safely fall to the ground the majority of Hogwarts population proved the universal truth that teenagers have the mentality of a lemming.

Unfortunately for Minerva, Filius Flitwick and Rubeus Hagrid took one look at each other and jumped with roars of delight. This made it nearly impossible to punish the students as it had just become a teacher endorsed and approved activity.

As Xander reached the announcers box he was greeted with three female death glares.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, NEXT WEEK WE WILL BE GOING TO PROFESSOR HARRIS' FUNERAL." Came the quiet and reverent tones of Lee Jordan, who took one look at Minerva's face and leapt over the side.

"Don't blame me! I just made a safety feature. They are the ones twisting its purpose." Xander said defensively. "And might I add, if I hadn't acted, Harry would now be a tomato coloured stain on the pitch."

Minerva had no argument for that, but Hermione was still glaring at him, clearly holding him responsible for the recklessness of her fellow students. Joyce however looked like she wanted to join the other students.

So she grabbed Harry and Hermione and jumped over the rail with them.

"Apparently Joyce approves too." He remarked.

"You do realize that every student in the school will be wanting to know how to fly? I dread to think how many accidents are just waiting to happen! And I will be telling Poppy it was all your fault!" Minerva ranted.

"So I won't teach them, we'll tell Harry he'll have detention for a month scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush if he breathes a word. Add some extra rules like, 'no flying in the castle' and 'flying is restricted to the Quidditch Pitch only' and we'll be golden." Xander grinned.

"I'm not worried about Harry telling anyone other than Neville and Hermione." Minerva admitted.

"Me neither, but this way he can legitimately say he can't tell anyone and he won't be lying."

"I'll have to make an announcement at dinner." Minerva sighed.

Xander put an arm around Minerva's waist and she squeaked as she found herself rising up.

"We could have walked!" Minerva scowled as Xander flew them towards the castle.

"Yeah, but then I couldn't teach you how to fly." He grinned as he moved her into a similar position to how he held Harry.

After many threats to let her fall like a baby bird from the nest, Minerva McGonagall was flying along side Xander to the castle doors under her own power. It took all of her formidable self-control not giggle and squeal like a schoolgirl.

When Tonks arrived just before dinner she was thoroughly put-out that she had missed all the fun. Joyce had retrieved the pensieve from the Head's office and Minerva had shown them how to view the memory.

Tonks resolved to never miss another of Harry's matches.

The rest of the evening was spent with Tonks trying to teach Harry about his metamorphamagus abilities. Minerva was teaching Xander about animagus abilities and Hermione was grilling Joyce on Hogwarts and… everything.

Sunday passed quietly, although the announcement that Xander would not be teaching everyone how to fly was met with much discontent.

Tonks returned and she and Minerva took their students for lessons whilst Joyce took Hermione around the castle.

Monday brought news that severely blackened the three adults moods.

Tonks and Kingsley had turned up and requested to speak to the three of them immediately.

"Severus Snape has been cleared of all charges and released." Kingsley snarled.

"WHAT!" Minerva screeched. "We had iron clad evidence!"

"Albus Dumbledore had the whole lot squashed and the case thrown out." He growled.

"What? Why?" Xander asked. He hadn't spent more than an hour in the man's presence, he clearly liked to be in control, but otherwise he had a grandfatherly type vibe.

"He didn't say. It's clearly an abuse of power, but we can't go against him. He's too powerful." He explained.

"Bet he's not as powerful as Harry. Bet he doesn't know how to handle me in a fight either." Xander scowled.

"Nobody is as powerful as Harry." Joyce smirked.

"Can I please assume that we are not thinking of pitting an eleven year old boy against a one hundred and fifty year old seasoned wizard?" Kingsley practically begged.

"Don't worry Shack, just wishful thinking." Tonks assured him.

"And why does this Headmaster have the legal authority to do this?" Xander asked.

"Because he also happens to be the chief judge of the country." Joyce sighed.

"Yep… definite control freak." He muttered.

"Well, Snape is not getting back in this castle. I have a duty to the protection of my inhabitants and he has proven that he is in violation of that protection." Joyce said firmly.

"You will have to physically force him out. Albus has always ignored my pleas and complaints regarding Severus. I wouldn't be surprised if, on his return, he has Severus in tow." Minerva said with a defeated attitude.

"Cool, he may receive some punishment after all." Xander said, rubbing his hands together and cackling evilly.

"Just try not to do anything that means we have to arrest you." Kingsley pleaded.

"As long as Xander does not take actions beyond the bounds of the castle grounds or Hogsmede, you can't touch him. This is essentially, sovereign territory. Hogwarts has been around since long before the Ministry of Magic. It has also been independent of the Ministry." Joyce informed them.

"Then why do we get lessons on what the ministry tells us?" Tonks asked.

"Because I was asleep for too long a period and woke up too late to change it." Joyce suddenly grinned. "But Xander is doing a good job of putting us back on track."

Xander gave a cheeky grin. "Yep, that's me! Teacher's Pet!"

"I thought you were Teachers Post-Coital Snack?" Joyce smirked.

"Traitor!" Xander cried theatrically.

"Getting us back on track, what about Albus and Severus?" Minerva asked.

Joyce and Xander shared a look and a shrug.

"Severus does not step one foot on my grounds. Any attempt or success will be met with increasing force. He has three chances. After the third, I take permanent action." Xander said firmly.

"Albus will be placed on probation." Joyce announced. "Should his performance be found lacking, he will be terminated as Headmaster."

"Or just terminated." Xander shrugged.

Minerva sighed worriedly. "Unfortunately, in today's society, it is better the devil you know. I dread to think who will take over."

"There are only three candidates, Minerva. Yourself, Xander and me." Joyce assured her.

"Oh god! I think Snyder just rolled over in his grave." Xander shuddered.

The remaining weeks of November passed quietly. Harry caught on quickly to what Xander tried to teach him, but Hermione found it harder as there was no book to follow. But she did manage to perform wandless and non-verbal magic. Even achieving flight. But she stumbled when it came to trying new things. She lacked imagination.

But there came a point where Xander's imagination wasn't enough. He still needed to know the basics behind a charm that showed a list of the contents of a closed box. Harry tended to be the one who managed to help Xander and Hermione overcome their limitations.

During the first week of December, Hermione received a letter from her parents. She had asked if Harry and Xander could spend Christmas at their home.

Xander had been reluctant to leave Joyce alone on the holidays, but she insisted that it would be a good chance for Harry to experience a real Christmas.

Hermione excitedly wrote her confirmation with a note from Xander saying he would be by the following week to introduce himself.

On the 20th of December many of the students made their way to the train station in Hogsmede. Xander assured Harry that the Grangers were excited about meeting him. The three of them shared a compartment with Neville who was excited about showing his Gran all that Xander had taught him. Xander could tell that the shy young boy was becoming good friends with Harry and Hermione and had decided to have him join them in lessons, even going so far as to teach him how to fly. Something Neville was far more comfortable doing when broomsticks weren't involved.

The train ride was uneventful, Xander dozed off as the three kids chatted away. Many hours later they pulled into Kings Cross Station as the sun was dipping behind the skyline of London. They gathered their trunks… or backpack in Xander's case, and disembarked.

Xander suddenly became very excited as they reached the brick wall that acted as a barrier between the magical and non-magical worlds.

"Don't you get it?" He asked as if it was already Christmas morning. "If magic can make solid objects… erm…"

"Incorporeal?" Hermione offered.

"Exactly – Then Magic can do the same for us! Walls and doors are pointless! We never have to worry about losing our keys again!"

"Won't that mean that robbers and… bad people can get in easily?" Harry asked thinking of his parent's deaths.

"Sure, but that's what shields and warning spells are for." Xander shrugged. "I am gonna have so much fun trying this out over the break!"

After saying goodbye to Neville, who nervously walked over to a tall imposing woman with a stuffed vulture perched on her hat, they headed out to grab a taxi and to complete the rest of their journey.

An hour and a half later and they reached the outskirts of London. The tall buildings fell behind them as they entered areas of houses. They soon pulled up to a large house that was three storeys tall. It was even bigger than the apartments that Xander had at Hogwarts.

As they piled out of the car the door to the house opened and a young couple exited. A thin man about Xander's height with glasses like Harry's and a woman about a foot shorter with thick curly brown hair.

"DADDY!" Hermione squealed as she abandoned the two males and launched herself at her father. Her mother was treated to a similar welcome.

"Hermione! It's so good to have you home!" Her mother gushed. "Have you been using potions in your hair?" She asked with a frown.

"No Mum, Xander and Joyce have been brushing it every night and morning. They said it would help, and look! It does!" She said happily.

"Several years of looking after and living with girls, you learn a few things." Xander shrugged as he cam up with Hermione's trunk and Harry trailing behind.

"We tried for years but gave up. It didn't help that her hair was so unruly." She admitted.

"Good to see you again Xander." Hermione's father said happily.

"You too Dan, Emma. I'd like you to meet Harry Potter. Harry, this is Mr. and Mrs. Granger." He said as he dropped the trunk and shepherded a nervous Harry forward.

"Nice to meet you Harry, and its just Dan and Emma." Dan said quietly with a soft smile as he slowly offered his hand to Harry. Years as a medical professional had taught the Grangers how to handle all types of children. They also had specialized training to spot abused children. Everything Xander had warned them about was written on Harry like a billboard.

"Hi." Harry said quietly, still unsure of himself.

"Hermione, why don't you take Harry and show him the house, your room and the guest room, where he'll be staying." Emma suggested.

"Sure Mum." She said as she disengaged herself from her mother and grabbed Harry by the hand dragging him into the house already chattering away.

"Right… so she has clearly reached the age where she has learnt that men are for hard labour." Xander quipped as he glanced down at the trunks.

"Here, I'll get Hermione's." Dan offered.

"You might want to pretend it takes some effort, I made it light weight." Xander grinned as Dan suddenly stumbled backwards as he put too much physical effort into lifting something he thought was heavy.

"Thanks for the warning." He said sarcastically.

"Come on in, Xander." Emma said as she headed in.

"The confirmation came through today. We need to be there first thing tomorrow." Emma said as they sat at the kitchen counter, somewhat cryptically, in case of little eavesdroppers.

"Sweet. My… people have also confirmed everything." Xander added. "Hopefully Harry will like his first real Christmas present." He said with a hint of worry.

"You've done wonders with them, Xander." Emma assured him. "Hermione has clearly lost her officious attitude when dealing with people. It made her unapproachable by everyone. And Harry is looking healthy."

"Hermione is learning the hard way that books can be wrong." Xander chuckled. "Her favourite book was Hogwarts: A History. But she has actually met Joyce, who is Hogwarts, and the book is now treated as a charlatan."

Dan and Emma just chuckled, they had long been treated to Hermione's favourite argument of 'But the book said'. It was one of the reasons she had trouble with practical work, sometimes one had to take a little… poetic license.

"But she'll be happy to show you some fancy magic, we just have to be careful around Harry in case he over powers another spell."

"Apparently children aren't allowed to do magic outside of school. They get in trouble with the Ministry." Dan said sadly.

Xander looked at them in disbelief. "You've never seen her do any magic?" He asked.

"Nothing but the accidental stuff." Dan confirmed.

"Well that sucks. Well, you are officially invited up to Hogwarts for a holiday so you can see your daughter in action. In the meantime, I have brought the pensieve so you can see our memories." He said firmly.

"I thought muggles couldn't see Hogwarts?" Emma asked.

"They can't. It's in Hog-"

"And you know how accurate that book is." Xander interrupted Hermione as she and Harry came down the stairs.

Hermione blushed but went on. "But they use muggle repelling charms, those parts are real, Joyce told me."

"And I am sure Joyce – who is Hogwarts – can make an exception for non-magical parents of witches and wizards. Something Minerva and I will be discussing when we get back." Xander scowled as he realized that none of the non-magical born kids would be able to show off to their parents.

*Chapter 5*: Chapter 5  
The next morning the house was in a state of frenetic chaos as everyone was told to dress nicely as they had a very important meeting to get to. Neither of the kids could extract the nature of the meeting from the adults.

The meeting was in Central London so they caught a taxi instead of driving the Granger's car and trying to park. When Xander asked about the congestion charge, the Granger's looked at him weirdly, so he muttered an excuse about future not yet come to pass and promised to tell them later.

Two hours later and they were standing in front of the Inner London Crown Court.

"Am I in trouble?" Harry asked worriedly.

Xander knelt down in front of Harry. "No. Dan, Emma and I have brought you so that we can bring the Dursley's to justice. We've been telling you all this time that what they did to you was wrong… criminal. Now it is time for them to receive punishment for that crime."

"Can't we just never see them again?" He asked hopefully.

"No Harry. It is our responsibility to make sure that they are dealt with. If we don't, then they will just do the same things to others, or other people will think they can get away with it." Xander said firmly.

Emma joined Xander in front of Harry. "The only thing you will need to do, is answer the questions the judge asks you. You can't get in trouble for that."

Not wanting to prolong the waiting and Harry's suffering, Xander put an arm around his shoulder and shepherded him inside the tall building.

Once they had passed through the metal detectors and signed in, they were shown to a waiting room filled with various other people who were there for their own cases where Emma explained that normally this process would take the better part of a year, but that they had called in some favours with friends.

They were soon shown into the courtroom which wasn't as imposing as some of the courts in the movies Xander had bought for Harry. Emma had explained there was no jury for this hearing, just a judge but that the Dursley's would be there, minus Dudley.

And there they were. They turned to see who had walked in the door behind them and on seeing the freak they scowled and snarled like angry animals.

They cowered though when Xander snarled back. Xander had long been an Alpha, the only problem was that he had always accepted Buffy and Giles as his pack leaders. Once he headed out on his own to Africa, he found himself falling more into the role of a leader.

The eye-patch didn't hurt either.

Dan and Emma ushered the three magicals to a seat in the front row. The Dursleys were with their barrister at the one of the tables. The representative for Harry's case was at the other.

A few minutes later and the doors at the back opened again and three familiar faces walked in. Minerva and Kingsley looked out of place in non-magical clothing… Tonks looked out of place looking so neat and professional.

"Wotcher Harry!" Tonks greeted happily. "Wouldn't miss this for the world."

Minerva and Kingsley gave Harry a warm smile before they took seats behind them.

They had barely sat down when the doors opened again and a middle-aged man with graying hair marched in with a younger man. The younger man took a seat in front of his little typewriter, and the man sat down behind the desk on a raised platform where a nameplate declared him to be Judge Matthew Finch.

"Good morning all. I am Judge Finch. This is a custody hearing for one Harry James Potter. Is the young man in question here?" He asked kindly.

After a nudge from Xander and Hermione, Harry stood up.

"Here sir." He said quietly.

"Ah… excellent. Now then, this is going to rather informal. Just to make sure that everyone has your best interests at heart. If necessary we will hand certain proceedings along to criminal courts, but you won't need to worry about that." Xander was pleased with the way the judge handled Harry. He obviously knew his way around children.

"Now then. Mr. Rothsby, would you care to proceed?" He asked the man representing Harry.

"Of course your Honour.

"As per the evidence presented, I submit that the Dursleys are guilty of child abuse and criminal negligence. They have subjected Harry to ten years of hell trapped in a cupboard under the stairs. They never buy him clothes and don't feed him properly.

"He is currently staying with Alexander Harris and attends a private boarding school in Scotland."

"And you want sole custody granted to Mr. Harris?" The judge enquired.

"Yes sir. Mr. Harris is the owner of the school and is also the Head of Security. It was he who brought this case to the attention of the courts with Dr. and Dr. Granger."

"He is unmarried?" Judge Finch asked.

"Yes your Honour."

"Hmm, Mr. Charles, do you have an initial response?"

The representative for the Dursleys stood. "My clients maintain that they have provided everything that Mr. Potter has ever needed. They do not believe that Mr. Potter would be cared for properly by Mr. Harris."

The Dursley's didn't look like they really believed that, and neither did the judge.

"Do they deny the allegations of child abuse?" Judge Finch asked.

"Vehemently sir."

"And the physical evidence?"

"When a child is disobedient, one sends it to the corner for punishment. My clients merely had a door to their corner." Mr. Charles answered smoothly.

"A door with several locks and a deadbolt on the outside." Mr. Rothsby snorted.

He was ignored easily by Mr. Charles, but the Dursley's were going red with rage.

"Mr. Charles, even if we were to accept that rather far fetched tale, how do you explain his bedroom door with not even a handle on the inside but more locks on the outside than I have in my whole house?" Judge Finch asked.

"Mr. Potter is unfortunately a rather disobedient and unruly child. Although the measures may seem drastic and even inhumane, they are in fact for everyone's safety."

"And so I assume you have police reports or eyewitness accounts and testimony to back up those claims?"

There was a very subtle change in Mr. Charles' expression, but everyone caught it.

"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley claim they have managed to negate the need for reports via judicious repudiation and recompense." Mr. Charles said quietly.

There was a stunned silence.

Eventually Mr. Rothsby cleared his throat and began slowly. "I've run that phrase through my mind several times, and like Mr. Charles, I am an Oxford graduate… but that still translates to 'we bribed and threatened people'."

Mr. Charles remained impassive, desperately trying not to let his emotions and thoughts slip through.

"Yes, well… I'm an Eton man myself, and I can assure you that I am, as such, well versed in the ways of deciphering that type of snake oil sales pitch. And you are absolutely right Mr. Rothsby." Judge Finch said with a scowl as the Dursley's turned white. "It doesn't matter how you dress it up, you have just stated that the Dursley's have committed criminal acts to cover up alleged criminal acts."

"My clients deny that Your Honour." Mr. Charles said stiffly. "I have a character witness who would like to speak on their behalf."

Finch sighed. "Very well, have them take the stand."

"He does not appear to have arrived." Charles said beginning sweat just a little.

Meanwhile Harry and his group were trying to figure out who was insane and twisted enough to speak on behalf of the Dursley's.

"You have a character witness, who can't even turn up on time? This doesn't exactly speak well of the character of the character witness!" Finch was beginning to think this whole fiasco was all a joke. As far as he was concerned, once Harry told him he wanted to go Mr. Harris, that was it, the case would then be turned over to the Crown Prosecution Service.

"He assured me he would be here on time and that it was imperative for Mr. Potter's own safety that he-" Charles was interrupted as the doors at the back banged open and a tall wizened figure in an immaculate suit strode in. Albus Dumbledore had arrived.

"Oh god. It's a member of the Amateur Dramatics Club." Xander groaned quietly.

Unfortunately everyone heard him and the court stenographer snorted a laugh.

"I'm so sorry sir!" He said, appalled at his behaviour. It was his first week running solo.

"Don't worry Daniel. It will be years before you develop enough control to sit through something like that and not react." Finch said kindly. "I agree completely with Mr. Harris' sentiments." He said addressing the elderly man who had just entered. "I assume this is the so called character witness?"

"Yes your Honour. Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of the private school Mr. Potter attends." Charles stated wearily, this case was an unmitigated disaster.

Finch meanwhile was frowning in concern. He kept looking between the various people in the room, picking up on various things. He shook himself. "Mr. Charles, what were you saying before Mr. Dumbledore barged in?"

If Albus was offended by the accusations, he didn't show it. He maintained an aura of serenity.

"Erm… oh yes, Professor Dumbledore has assured me that it is in the interests of Mr. Potter's safety that he stay with the Dursleys."

Judge Matthew Finch nearly lost his rag at the implications of that statement. Mr. Rothsby had the look of someone watching a train wreck, you don't want to watch but you can't turn away.

Finch visibly calmed himself. "Albus Dumbledore, take the stand." He snapped.

Calmly the white bearded wizard took his seat at a small table between Mr. Rothsby's table and the Dursleys. He was sworn in and awaited his instructions from the judge.

"Carry on Mr. Charles." Finch said tersely.

"Thank you Your Honour." Mr. Charles turned to Dumbledore practically pleading with his eyes for the man to behave. "Professor Dumbledore, you are here primarily as a character witness for the Dursley family, could you tell us why you believe them to be suitable guardians for Mr. Potter?"

"Of course." Albus back genially. "I have known the Dursleys for more than ten years. I was the one who dropped young Harry off at their home after his parents died. They provide the necessary environment for Harry to survive. They already have their own son who is Harry's age and is a well adjusted young man."

It wasn't exactly a puff promotional piece you would find in the local paper that extolled the virtues of a young family adopting a starving orphan from a third world country, but it was to the point.

"You have mentioned that Harry's safety is reliant on with remaining with the Dursleys, could you elaborate?"

"I am afraid I cannot go into too much detail, but there are elements out there who wish young Harry great harm."

And that was a statement that did nothing but raise more questions. But Albus Dumbledore was used to people simply accepting his word. And Mr. Charles knew better than to ask a question he didn't know the answer to.

Mr. Charles sighed. "That is all I have for now."

"Good choice." Xander muttered, and Daniel heroically managed to stifle his grin.

"Mr. Harris, please try to refrain from making my court scribe laugh." Finch ordered with a hint of a smile in his eyes.

"Sorry Your Honour."

"Mr. Rothsby, you have questions?" Finch asked.

"Thank you your Honour." He said trying not to chuckle.

"Now, Mr. Dumbledore-"

"Professor Dumbledore." Albus corrected with a grandfatherly smile.

"Oh? You have some proof of ID?" Rothsby asked politely.

Albus looked like he was about to cheerfully produce some identification when he realized that he didn't have any that wasn't magical.

"Passport? Birth certificate? Utility bill? I dread to ask but… driver's license?" Finch asked worriedly. He would hate to see this elderly man behind the wheel of a car.

When none of the listed items were produced, Finch made his decision. "I suppose we can allow him the use of the honorific, we will just have to remember he is not an actual professor." Finch said patronisingly.

"Of course Your Honour." Rothsby said desperately trying not to smile.

Xander and the adults were trying desperately not break down in hysterical laughter whilst Harry and Hermione were a little lost. Mr. Charles and the Dursleys were looking more and more like they had lost and that their best hope was to flee the country and hope the bobbies didn't catch 'em.

"Professor Dumbledore, perhaps you could inform us which agency and which council you contacted and used to arrange the adoption of Harry Potter?"

"Oh, there was no agency, I merely had him picked up from the remains of his destroyed home and delivered to where I was waiting outside number 4 privet drive." Albus said as though it were perfectly normal.

"You didn't even contact the local council?" Finch asked incredulously.

"Local council of what?"

"The local governing council of wherever Mr. Potter lived!" Finch said, desperately trying not to lose his rag.

"Oh no. They were not equipped to handle this case." Albus said firmly.

"What about the police?" Finch asked, practically begging for this man to not be admitting to kidnapping.

"What about them?"

"Did. You. Call. Them!"

"Absolutely not! His parents were of the police and they couldn't protect him." There was a growl from behind Rothsby. Several growls in fact as the adults did not appreciate the aspersions he was laying on Harry's parents.

Finch and Charles were at a loss.

Rothsby wasn't quite sure how he was winning, but he was. He had no idea how to proceed though. "Your Honour… I-"

"No Mr. Rothsby, I believe we have heard enough from this… witness. You may step down Mr. Dumbledore."

Albus looked like he was about to correct the judge on the use of an improper title, but he saw the look the man was giving him and thought better of it.

"Your Honour, before he steps down, there is a one piece of evidence that Mr. Rothsby should ask about." Xander said politely as Albus stood. "The Last Will and Testament of James and Lily Potter… Harry's parents."

Judge Finch could see that Mr. Harris wanted this evidence confronted for Harry's sake. It had been included in the case documents, so he knew it named several people who were tasked with his well-being.

"Yes, Mr. Dumbledore, I have in the case file the Last Will and Testament of James and Lily Potter. They list several people including a godfather as people who Harry should be left with and clear instructions that Lilly Potter's sister, Petunia Dursley, was to have no part in his upbringing. Care to explain why he was not?"

"They seemed unsuitable for Harry's needs." Albus stated simply.

"And you decided to go against their express wishes that Harry not be left with Lily Potter's sister?"

"As I said, they were not suitable."

"And you have no reason to give beyond your own opinion?" Finch asked, he couldn't believe the arrogance of the man.

"I do, I just do not feel it is wise to share them at this time." Albus said carefully.

Finch sighed and Rothsby sat down, he wasn't sure quite how he managed to win this case, but he was fairly certain it wasn't him who deserved the credit.

Albus was dismissed, though he would be investigating the Headmaster later. "There are only two people I wish to hear from before I make my decision. Mr. Harris, could you take the stand please?" Judge Finch requested.

Xander was sworn in and sat waiting patiently.

"For starters, you have ID?" Finch asked warily.

Xander managed to produce a drivers license, birth certificate and passport. "I have also managed to get a hold of Harry's papers if you wish."

"That would be wonderful, it would help with keeping the file accurate… sort of." He added under his breath as he tried not to glare at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore meanwhile looked like he had clearly won the case for the Dursleys. The Dursleys were wondering if their wills were up to date.

"Mr. Harris, could you please tell me how you intend to support Mr. Potter?"

"As was stated earlier, I work at Harry's school. However I am also independently wealthy and would rather not answer questions about the school as it is very private. I would also like to keep it from other parties for Harry's safety." Xander requested as he gave a telling glance to the Dursleys.

"Quite alright." Finch said making a note. "Do you have experience with children? Other than the day to day interactions of your job?"

"I spent a few years looking after young girls as a kind of mentor and instructor. It was part of a special school my friends set up. I was often used as the counsellor. Oh, and my friends were all female in case you were worried." He grinned.

Finch chuckled. "You poor hen-pecked soul." He remarked. "One last question from myself: Do you intend to live at the school with Harry during the holidays?"

"No, I have been looking into properties near the Grangers. Harry and their daughter are school friends and the Grangers have agreed to help keep an eye on Harry and myself."

"Excellent!" Finch declared happily. "You may step down, Mr. Harris.

"Now, I must ask all but the two legal representatives, my court scribe and Mr. Potter to leave." Finch said sternly. "I assure you, nothing untoward is going on, I merely wish to talk with Harry without undue influence placed on him. Perhaps the Dursleys and Mr. Dumbledore would use the other door as I would prefer to keep both parties separate."

That and he didn't trust Mr. Harris to not kill the old man on principle.

Albus and the Dursley's clearly didn't like that idea, but Xander and the rest were quite impressed. After a few pats on Harry's back they filed out.

Soon it was just the five of them. "Could you two gentlemen pass two chairs over, please?" He requested as he stepped around his desk and motioned Harry forward.

Harry was sworn in after the Judge made sure Harry understood what was meant.

"Now, Harry. I only have one question for you. Would you like to stay with Mr. Harris?" He asked simply.

"Yes!" Harry said excitedly.

Finch just chuckled along with the others. "A more honest response you'll be hard pressed to find.

"Very well, there will need to be a probationary period, but Mr. Harris has good people recommending him, and your opinion is the most important. I am afraid I have no choice but to hand the Dursley's on for prosecution. You will need to attend as a witness, but we can arrange it during the school year so you have a legitimate excuse to not have to stick around for the whole ordeal.

"I can, however, guarantee that you will never be legally forced to live with the Dursleys again.

"Now, you head back to your seat. Rothsby, could you return the chairs whilst Charles calls in the others."

A few minutes later and everyone was seated.

"Quite frankly, today's hearing was appalling. I have heard many tales of abuse of a child, and this was one of the worst due to the length and breadth of the conspiracy surrounding and causing Mr. Potter's torment. I am ruling that Harry James Potter is to be held in the custody of Alexander Harris. Mr. Rothsby will explain the nuts and bolts of this, but as I explained to Harry, he can never be legally forced to return to the Dursleys.

"This hearing is closed."

As the Dursleys filed out quickly with their solicitor and Albus, Finch signalled quietly that he wanted the rest to stay. He quietly dismissed his scribe and Xander told Mr. Rothsby he would call later.

As the scribe closed the door, Judge Finch sighed.

"I assume the private school is Hogwarts?" He said tiredly.

Everyone but Xander seemed shocked at that question. How did the muggle know about Hogwarts?

"Justin's dad?" Xander asked.

"Yes, how's he doing?"

"Ok, made plenty of friends, still has a bit of a stick up his butt at times." Xander commented earning a scowl from Minerva and a snicker from the others, including Judge Finch.

"Sounds about right. It's one of the reasons I didn't want to send him to Eton, he has older brothers you see.

"Now, I know that as part of the muggle world I can't legally affect the magical, but I must seriously recommend and beg that this… man be removed as head of the school. I am sure the Grangers would agree with me regarding this."

"He is currently on a years probation. If he screws up I'll be kicking him out so fast his beard'll be left behind." Xander said seriously. "Professor McGonagall will assume the head of the school if that happens."

Finch sighed. "I suppose that will have to do for now. At least I know you have the children's best interests at heart.

"Harry, you made a good choice today. Take it from someone with years of experience in these situations. But I will warn you, things might get a little rough. You are about to become a teenager, that means hormones are going to be affecting your mood and how you think. Mr. Harris should already be aware on some level of what to expect considering he went through it himself and dealt with teenaged girls, but, try and be self aware." He said kindly.

"I will sir." Harry said surely.

It was a supremely joyful gathering that stepped out of the court building. Dan and Emma insisted that everyone come back to their place to celebrate. They agreed as long as they left the work to the magical folks.

"I suppose we could side-along apparate everyone." Tonks mused as they discussed getting back to the Grangers.

"What's that when it's at home?" Xander asked.

"The process of near-instantaneous travel between two points." Minerva quoted.

"Wait… we can teleport?" Xander asked causing Tonks and Harry to snicker and Hermione to huff in outrage.

"Cool! Give me a second to figure this out." Xander said holding up his hand as he thought through all the ways he'd seen people teleport, everything from Star Trek to Willow banishing Glory to Anya as a demon.

"Xander the correct way to-"

"Now, now Hermione, let me figure it out myself." Xander admonished absently.

The group stood there for about fifteen seconds as they watched Xander in amusement or disgust in Hermione's case. Hermione was shocked when Xander simply vanished from the spot.

"He did it! I can't believe he did it!" Hermione said in awe.

"I still don't get why you never believe him?" Harry asked a little sad at that his friend always doubted Xander.

"Because it's not in the books!" She exclaimed in frustration. "All the books say you can't fly without broomsticks, but Xander can."

"So can you, Hermione." Minerva pointed out.

"Wait – what… fly without a broomstick?" Kingsley stuttered.

"I'll explain later Shack." Tonks muttered quietly.

"Yes, but that's my point!" Hermione said. "He breaks all the known rules."

"Why don't you write your own book?" Harry asked.

"That's an excellent idea, Harry!" Minerva beamed. "Xander does seem to be debunking all known theories of magic, someone needs to document it for the future, you could make a project of it and we will have it count towards your education."

When Hermione still looked dubious, Dan reminded her of Christopher Columbus and Charles Darwin. Both of who proved previously published books to be false… and Darwin actually tried to debunk himself.

"I hate to break up this highly educational debate, but do you think Xander is – never mind." Kingsley said as the aforementioned person arrived.

"That was BRILLIANT!" Xander shouted excitedly. "It was good to see home again… only there is no Sunnydale here, just a whole lot of desert."

"Home… you went to the States?" Tonks asked in horror.

"Yeah, the beach is still there though. Harry definitely needs a tan." Xander said pinching Harry's cheek with a grin.

"But… you… not possible… how!" It was actually Kingsley and not Hermione that was having trouble accepting Xander's tale.

"I believe what young Kingsley is trying to say is that it is not generally possible for wizards to travel that far without a portkey." Minerva said as she eyed the sputtering Auror glibly.

"Like that ever stops Xander." Hermione grinned cheekily.

"You know it!" Xander said shooting her a thumbs-up. "Joyce wants us to have the celebration at the school so she and Hagrid can join in."

"I suppose we could take the knight bus." Kingsley muttered as he re-composed himself.

"Or we could just let Xander take us." Hermione said perkily.

"You're really taking this whole 'Xander is right and books are wrong' thing literally, aren't you?" Tonks grinned.

"Why not, if Xander is right then I will be able to visit anywhere in the world! The Pyramids, the Great Wall of China, the Hoover Damn, the Grand Canyon." She listed.

"Exactly! Wait, books are wrong and what?" He asked with a hint of worry.

"I'll explain later." Minerva told him.

"Erm… ok." Xander shrugged with a raised eyebrow. "But, I don't think I am the person to transport all of us. I think Harry will have to manage that."

"He's too young." Kingsley said automatically. "And he's not licensed."

"Why would he need a license?" Xander asked.

"In case of spli- in case he leaves part of himself behind, or lands where he shouldn't." Tonks explained.

"Why would he leave part of himself behind?"

"Perhaps Xander should accompany me for a side-along apparition, then he can bring me back and we can see if Xander is actually apparating." Minerva suggested.

"Why wouldn't he be apparating?" Kingsley asked.

"Because he's Xander!" Hermione and Harry chorused.

"Can you manage Harry as well?" Xander asked.

"It shouldn't be a problem. We won't be going far. Just a few meters." Minerva assured him.

Harry and Xander each took one of Minerva's arms and vanished with a loud pop only to reappear a few meters away.

"Oh god that sucked!" Xander groaned. "Literally."

"Is it always like that?" Harry asked as he gasped for breath.

"You do tend to get used to it." Minerva assured them.

"No wonder you were worried about losing bits… I thought my foot was about to get pulled off for a second." Xander moaned.

"Are you sure yours won't be any worse?" Harry asked worriedly.

"I felt nothing." Xander said firmly. "Now you two, grab on."

Very warily, Harry grasped Xander's arm and the three of them vanished.

Two minutes later and the Grangers, Tonks and Kingsley were still waiting.

"Should we place bets on where they have gone?" Dan asked with a grin.

"Could you show us what apparition feels like?" Hermione asked.

"Better let Kingsley do it. I'm pants at side-along." Tonks chuckled.

"Unlike Minerva, I'll do one at a time. I prefer to save my strength for emergencies."

A few minutes later after Dan and Hermione had thrown up, the three wayward travellers returned.

"I could push it and take all of us, but as you can see, Harry has the power to spare and could probably move the whole damn building! He did levitate the entire school population after all." Xander said as they walked towards the others.

"It's about time!" Tonks said with a scowl.

"I assume Harry has learnt how to apparate on his own?" Kingsley asked.

"How do you figure?" Tonks asked.

"They weren't holding each other." Hermione answered and Kingsley gave her an approving smile. She didn't have just the smarts, but also the observational skills to back them up.

"Yeah, Harry brought us back. Unlike me, he doesn't need contact." Xander explained.

"So Harry is going to take us all to Hogwarts?" Kingsley asked sceptically.

Xander just grinned. "Show the man Harry."

The next thing the group knew they were standing in the great hall of Hogwarts.

"SURPRISE!" Rang out several voices.

Hagrid and Joyce were surrounded by several suits of armour and behind them were the remaining students and teachers who had stayed behind for the holidays. It was the first lot that had called out.

"Great Merlin! How did they manage to apparate into the castle?" Professor Flitwick gasped.

Kingsley swallowed tightly. "Trust me Professor, that was not apparition!"

Hermione was desperately trying to quench her objections that what they had done was impossible. She was proof of that. She decided instead to quiz Xander later about how he did it and then begin the book as Professor McGonagall recommended.

Hagrid meanwhile had hugged the stuffing out of Harry and had passed him over to Joyce who was repeating the process.

Harry was then passed back and forth between the Weasley twins… several times. He was eventually rescued by a tall man with red hair in a pony tail and a single earring.

Harry had no idea who the man was, but he was hugging him tightly and crying softly.

"Merlin, Harry. I searched everywhere for you." The man said.

"Harry, this is Bill Weasley." Joyce said softly so as to reassure Harry.

Bill snorted a wet laugh. "I'm sorry Harry, I was so happy to see you I forgot to introduce my self." He said as he released Harry. "I'm Bill, Tonks and Professor McGonagall said they mentioned me."

Harry nodded. "They said you used to look after me and were searching for me since… that night."

"Aye. The Goblins knew, but couldn't tell me outright as it's against the goblin code. But I hoped to work my way up till I could find out more." Bill said ruefully as he wiped his face to clear the tears.

"I had him transferred back to London. Figure I might as well throw my weight around." Xander said as he plucked at imaginary braces and puffed up his chest.

The rest of the evening was spent with a mixture of joy and outrage. The outrage was a result of many of the things that Harry had suffered at the hands of the Dursleys being mentioned. The professors and students were horrified whilst Hagrid and Bill had to be physically restrained at points. The twins however had a very sinister look in their eyes. The whole Weasley family knew how important finding Harry was to Bill. The twins would see to it that the Dursleys would pay.

Dan and Emma were treated to the sight of their daughter performing all sorts of magic. Including an impromptu flight. The professors were eager to talk to the parents of the brightest witch in the school to see if she was always that way.

Most of the evening was focused around all the fun things that Xander and Harry should do as a family, like going to the zoo. Watching a Quidditch match. Dan and Emma liked to tease them about all the things they would miss out on, like nappy changing, climbing into daddy's bed after a nightmare and other things that had Harry blushing like a tomato.

It was nearly eleven o'clock when Xander decided to put a halt on the evening as Harry was looking a bit tired and he was the ride home. But Joyce insisted they leave in the morning so Dan and Emma were introduced to the ever-expanding home of Xander, Harry and Hermione.

The next day, after a very long breakfast, which was more about chatting than eating, the five headed back to the Granger's home. Dan and Xander had arranged for a viewing of the local properties in the area for when the summer holidays came. Harry had very little imagination when it came to choosing a place to live, as he had no experience of family. But as Hermione dragged him excitedly around three different houses, the adults… and Xander… kept a close eye on Harry to see what his emotions and expressions revealed.

That night after the kids had been sent to bed, the adults… and Xander, sat down and discussed what they all saw.

"I didn't see any reaction to the inside of the houses except that he enjoyed Hermione's excitement." Emma said.

"Yes, I can see that I am going to have to have a talk with him when he gets older." Dan mused with an evil smirk.

"No you will not!" Emma said firmly. "I will speak to Hermione, if we believe Harry needs to be spoken with, we will discuss amongst ourselves the best way to do so. The last thing Harry needs is the image of an angry father barrelling down on him."

"I would only be teasing him!" Dan moaned with a pout.

"Yeah, but would Harry realize that, and more to the point, would it scare him off completely and break your little girls heart in the process?" Xander explained.

"Damn it! There goes all the fun out of teasing what may be her only decent boyfriend."

"We will not be speaking of this outside the three of us until they come to realize it for themselves." Emma stated sternly. "They need to live their own lives."

"I have plenty of experience with love-lorn girls, so if Harry appears to be overly dense, I'll let you know so you can discuss it with Hermione. At the moment, Harry wouldn't know love if it snogged his face off." Xander scowled.


	2. Chapter 6 - Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The spirit of Hogwarts believes that Harry has suffered enough in his eleven years of life and calls in a protector to guide and care for him. Not slash, rating for violence in later chapters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a Repost all words belong to mjimeyg

*Chapter 6*: Chapter 6  
The following day was spent shopping. Xander knew it was coming but still dreaded it. All three males dreaded the prospect of being dragged around a shopping centre only two days before Christmas.

But that morning, Emma awoke to find Harry making breakfast and Xander periodically walking into the door between the kitchen and living room.

"Harry, why is he doing that?" She asked.

"Oh, he said he's trying to walk through the door." Harry said as though it were a natural occurrence. Of course, Emma wasn't sure if it was natural in the magical world, or just a natural Xander thing… he could be fairly weird at times, but he was an American after all.

"Has he forgotten how to use the handle, or has his other eye conked out and he's gone blind?" She asked with a teasing smirk.

"I can hear you ya know." Xander muttered as he walked once more into the door.

"At least we know your hearing works." She responded.

"OW!"

At that point Hermione had opened the door and Xander had walked into the edge.

"Xander! I'm so sorry!" She squealed.

"Don't worry Hermione, he's been walking into that door for the past twenty minutes." Harry assured her.

"Wh-Oh! Your trying to phase through it." She said in understanding.

Xander turned and grinned at her. "'Phase'? I have successfully corrupted you! Welcome to the dork side." He said in best Emperor impression.

There was the sound of heavy breathing from by the stove as Harry provided sound effects. Star Wars was one of the first films Xander had shown him.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but did so with a grin. "So what are you trying to change?"

"Anything at the moment. I found that I can't change myself. Or, at least, I don't think I can. I managed to change a cup… oh, sorry about that Emma, I erm… phased it through the floor." He said sheepishly.

"Which one?"

"Erm… it said Arsenal on it."

"Oh, no worries then. They are doing terrible at the moment."

"Daddy won't be pleased though." Hermione snickered. "So you managed to phase a cup… with contact?"

"Yeah. I didn't mean to though, I was trying to stick my finger through it and it went through, but the whole thing phased through the table."

"So it remained phased for at least a second after you lost contact?" She clarified.

"Yeah, I guess it did!" Xander said in realization.

"Have you tried creating a field that contains you and phases the area around you." Hermione she asked.

Xander stared at the door in consideration.

"Are they always like this?" Emma whispered to Harry as he started on the eggs.

"No, usually Hermione is explaining the reasons why he can't do something. I think she is trying to remember what we discussed yesterday."

Xander was now poking his finger into the door and watching as it vanished into the wood.

"Ok, here goes." He said as he squared his shoulders and walked through the door.

"HOLY MARY MOTHER OF GOD!" Came Dan's startled squeal.

The kitchen occupants started laughing at the sound.

"Oh, sorry Dan, I was just trying something out." Came Xander's apologetic voice.

"What? How to kill a muggle and leave no evidence!" He said as he pushed the door open and stumbled in to sit at the breakfast counter.

"Not precisely, but I guess you could use it for that." Xander mused.

"Well that was the most damned creepiest experience I ever had. And for the record, your dentist sucked!" He scowled.

"Didn't have much time for a dentist when the Hellmouth kept opening." Xander shrugged. "And no. I am not letting you get in there."

"Sounds like justice to me." Dan muttered. "So what brought on this morning's bout of lunacy?"

"Hermione?" Xander offered, deferring to resident lecturer.

"Do you remember how we got to Platform 9 ¾? We had to pass through the brick wall?" She received two nods as they sat down to Harry's morning feast. "Xander had the idea that if the wall could be made incorporeal, then magical people should be able to walk through solid objects at will. He was trying to prove that theory. Was it the field that worked?"

"Yeah, but I realized what you said about the cup remaining phased after I lost contact. So instead of a surrounding field, I created a permeating field."

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"Instead of the field being in front of Xander, the field was also through him." Emma explained.

"Yeah, the last thing you need is to stop in the middle of a wall and suddenly find it re-materializing in your lungs." Xander gave a shudder.

"So now you don't need doors?" Dan grinned.

"I'm guessing that a magical barrier like a shield would stop me though." Xander pointed out.

"But what about the cup?" Emma quickly explained to Dan about his missing cup. His moans were ignored. "How will you stop picture frames falling off the wall?"

Xander and Hermione shared a glance. "Hopefully, both objects, the wall and the frame, will be out of phase together… but sharing the same phase, so they will still be solid… to each other." Hermione theorized.

"So now you just need to test it?" Dan asked.

"Yeah, but how?" Xander wondered.

Harry just sighed and moved his chair out. He went to the drawer and pulled out a spoon. "Walk through the chair or pass your hand through it. If the spoon falls you know it won't work." He explained.

"He's a genius!" Xander grinned.

He stood up, and did as Harry said, waking through it and passing his hand through it. But the spoon stayed where it was.

"So what does the field do?" Harry asked. "Or what should I be thinking of to recreate it?"

"Just that anything that touches the field becomes something you can put your hand through… which gives me an idea." Xander said as he started sinking into the floor.

A few seconds later Xander could be seen walking up invisible steps.

"Your mug my good man." He said with a grin and a flourish as he presented the wayward Arsenal mug to Dan who looked very happy.

"New addition, you can walk underground by projecting the field down and then once you get to the depth you want, you can project in front of you and start walking, but you can't exactly see anything."

The rest of the day was spent fighting through the late shoppers for Christmas presents. Dan and Xander first took Harry whilst Emma took Hermione, at lunch time they switched Harry and Hermione so they could buy for each other in secret. Xander wandered off to make a few purchases himself.

Christmas Eve was spent with each person wrapping their presents in secret. Harry got permission from Xander to teleport back to the castle to ask Joyce to help him with the wrapping having never done it before.

This brought them to Christmas day. Harry's first real Christmas. He was woken at an abominable hour by an over excited Hermione who woke the entire household. She soon had Harry and her parents down by the tree and waiting impatiently for Xander.

"Xander! Hurry up!" Hermione whined.

"Jeeze you're worse than Willow… and she's Jewish!" Xander groaned as he floated down through the ceiling.

"Show off." Dan muttered.

Xander just gave a sleepy grin.

Hermione turned out to be the Santa for the family. The one who sat with all the presents and handed them out to everyone. Which made sense, all things considered. Dan, Emma and Xander were tearing into their presents whilst Harry just looked on with a happy smile.

"Harry, aren't you going to open your presents?" Emma asked kindly.

"Oh… I… are there any rules?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yeah… make as big a mess of the wrapping paper as possible." Xander grinned.

Emma just slapped his shoulder. "Just remove the paper how you want and enjoy what it covers."

Harry was obviously not a 'ripper'. He meticulously dismantled the wrapping paper as Xander and Hermione looked on with looks of horror.

"It's terrible!" Hermione gasped quietly.

"Such a waste of fun." Xander moaned.

Harry looked up and saw the expressions on the pair faces. He looked over at Dan who was chuckling and Emma who was rolling her eyes at Xander and Hermione.

Harry looked back down at the half unwrapped present and gave a solid rip.

"YAY!" Came the excited cries of glee from the two 'kids'.

Harry grinned at them as Emma shook her head in amusement and Dan just laughed.

The presents were small affairs, but all were very special. All presents concerning Harry were treated like religious artefacts for the simple reason that it was the first time Harry had received or given a Christmas present.

Once the presents were freed from their evil multi-coloured bindings, everyone got dressed and they headed to Hogwarts for Christmas dinner with Joyce. She had insisted that she would host dinner so she could see the kids and it would save Dan and Emma from cooking and cleaning.

They were pleasantly surprised that Minerva was able to join them, she had simply fobbed responsibility for the students onto Filius, not that he minded.

After dinner, the group relaxed in Xander's living room and he broached a new subject.

"Harry, Joyce, Minerva and I have an extra present that we would like to offer you." He said as he sat up.

Harry sat up too, curious. "Offer?"

"Yeah, you are completely free of the Dursleys and I am your legal guardian. All that means is that I am responsible for your health, security and happiness. We three were wondering if you would allow us to officially adopt you and become your family." Xander explained.

Minerva continued. "We have no desire to replace James or Lilly as your parents. But we would be happy and very honoured to try and fill the void on their behalf in their absence."

"What would this mean?" Harry asked.

"Honestly? Not a lot of difference in how we treat each other." Xander admitted. "I would still treat you the same as I have done, but I would be more… familiar with you. I would treat you like you were my son. Like your dad would treat you if he were here. There are some benefits, legally speaking. At least in the muggle world."

Joyce stood up and moved to sit next to Harry. "Harry, what we really want is to have you in our family. We would be very proud and happy to say 'Our son Harry'." Joyce explained.

"And my mum and dad…"

"Will always be your mum and dad. They will always be acknowledged as part of the family and as your true parents and that we are simply doing what we can to help do what they can't be here to do." She assured him.

Harry's eyes were swollen with tears begging for release. "I think I'd like that." He said quietly.

That was all Joyce needed to pull him into a tight hug.

Xander stood up and pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket. "I have to perform a ritual and I couldn't memorize it in time." He said sheepishly. He placed a hand on Harry's head and consciously let his raw magic flow down out of his hand. "I, Alexander Lavelle Harris. Lord of Hogwarts and King of the Goblins. Claim Lord Harry James Potter as my son with all the rights and privileges implied. Do you accept?"

"Yes sir." Harry replied with wet awestruck eyes. No one ever wanted him, yet here were three people who wanted him as family.

Xander and Harry began to glow softly for just a moment. "Well, it's official! You're all mine now!" Xander grinned maniacally as he grabbed Harry and began to tickle him."

Whilst the adults looked on in amusement as Xander and Harry engaged in a fierce battle, Hermione was giggling away.

"Hermione! Help me!" Harry cried out gaspingly as he laughed.

Never one to ignore a challenge or cry for help (she wasn't a Gryffindor for her former mane!) she dove at Xander trying to find his ticklish spots.

"Xander, if you are quite finished, Joyce and I have our own roles to fill." Minerva reminded him.

It was three red faced and exhausted ticklers that sat back.

"Joyce and I have discussed this, and although I am substantially younger than her, I have aged more. So I have offered to take the role of grandmother and Joyce the roll of mother. Will this be acceptable?"

Harry didn't quite see what the age had to do with it. "Couldn't you both be my mum?"

"He has a point." Xander commented. "It is magic after all."

"What about the legal records?" Minerva asked a little shocked.

"They are magically updated. I created them myself with Rowena. Back then we were the government." Joyce explained. "The records will record two mothers, we designed it in case a step-parent wanted to adopt."

"Well I'm game if you are!" Minerva declared happily to Joyce and Harry.

A minute or so later and Harry had a new dad and two new mums.

"Cool! I have two wives!" Xander declared cheekily.

"Wouldn't that make you Oedipus? Son of mine?" Joyce asked archly.

Xander looked a little ill at that.

"You lot have the weirdest family tree I've seen so far!" Dan said incredulously.

"Part of our charm." Xander responded with a smirk.

"So, Harry. How does it feel to have a proper family?" Emma asked, she ignored the snorts from Dan and Xander at the use of the term 'proper'.

"Erm… I don't know yet?" He responded truthfully.

"I don't suppose you would." Emma muttered quietly as she realized how ridiculous the question was.

"Mum, dad, can I do it this year?" Hermione asked hopefully.

Dan sighed. "I'm sorry Hermione. We just don't believe that is the best thing for you."

"But-"

"No Hermione. We've discussed this before. When you're older you can do what you want with your body." Emma admonished.

Hermione looked at her parents with betrayal in her eyes and tears on her cheeks. She suddenly jumped off the couch and ran to her room in the apartment.

Emma moved to follow her with a sad look in her eyes.

"I really don't think she'll appreciate seeing you at the minute." Xander commented, halting her progress. "Joyce, could you?"

Joyce nodded silently as she rose to follow Hermione.

"Should I help her?" Harry asked in concern.

"Not this time Harry. I think you might be needed here." Xander said. He turned to Dan and Emma. "Teeth?"

Emma nodded sadly.

"Magic?" Xander asked.

"When she first discovered she was a witch, she researched medical healing. She found the spells needed to shrink her teeth. But we're dentists. We don't believe in mixing magic that way." Emma said with a hint of desperation, begging them to understand.

"You don't believe it?" Xander noted. "Minerva, how common is this sort of thing?"

"Relatively common. It has become used less as inbreeding has distorted the offspring too much and made them resistant to the magic."

"But it would be used on someone like Hermione?" He clarified.

"Oh yes. During the summer we will take Harry to get his eyes fixed. It will take time and will likely blind him for an hour or so, but he will have perfect vision." Minerva said smiling at Harry who was looking ecstatic. "Of course, you might need glasses as you get older as even the magical world can't defeat old age." She smirked as she tapped her own glasses.

"So, we are talking about a completely safe and commonly used technique, what's the real problem?" Xander asked turning back to Dan and Emma.

Dan sighed. "We just believe she should be happy with the way she is."

Xander snorted in sad amusement. "Harry, what bad names do you get called?"

"Erm, Pot-head, scar-head, scar-face, freak, potty-"

"That'll do. See, the majority of names are about his appearance. They do the same to Hermione."

"She needs to learn to ignore them." Dan said firmly.

"Ha!" Xander said derisively. "She will never, ever learn to do that. It will eat at her and affect her for the rest of her life.

"The saying 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me' is the biggest load of crap ever."

"But-"

"Emma, I've worked with a lot of girls, they can some of the nastiest people on the planet. Boys tend to beat the crap out of each other. Girls can destroy a person without laying a finger." Xander interrupted.

"But-"

"I give you exhibit A." Xander interrupted Dan this time by indicating Harry. He pulled his new son closer into a one armed hug as they sat on the couch. "Harry has suffered the taunts of adults and children all his life. As a result, he is not the outgoing and adventurous person he should be. And trust me, from what I've seen of him, he should be."

"I'm afraid Xander is right." Minerva chimed in. "But there is an additional issue which is only compounded by the issue of her teeth. She is a muggleborn. She is considered a second class citizen in the magical world. The only thing protecting Xander is his status as Lord Hogwarts and King of the Goblins. Otherwise, he would be treated the same."

"Hermione should be happy. I don't like it when she's sad and other people call her names. Maybe that's why she studies so much and does nothing but read? She doesn't have to talk to people then." Harry mused half to himself.

Xander and Minerva just smiled proudly at their son. "Very insightful Harry and very correct." Minerva said approvingly.

"I think the real question, is whether you hold Hermione's happiness higher than your own fears and worries. Also, if you do it now, you can observe and be part of that happiness otherwise, she will eventually go behind your back and do it herself." Xander pointed out finally.

Dan and Emma sighed and looked at each other. They were silent for a long time, but the others just let them think. Eventually Dan spoke up sadly.

"I suppose we have been guilty of imposing our own beliefs on Hermione in a detrimental way. I guess we still have some reservations and prejudices about magic in general." He looked to Emma who looked down at her lap and just nodded in slight shame and resignation. "If it makes her happy and is safe, then we will let her do it."

"Yes!" Came the quiet cry from a happy Harry.

"If I might suggest that you all return the day before the new year. It will give you time to tell Hermione and get used to the idea." Minerva said. "I believe it will be a good day to try Xander's animagus transformation."

"Ok… but I am still dreading turning into a Hyena." He muttered. "Especially a female one!"

"And I keep telling you, that won't happen… well, the female part." Minerva said with slight exasperation.

"And what did Joyce tell you about me and magic?" He asked pointedly. "Which is a damn good reason why I won't be trying to fix Hermione's teeth!"

"Shouldn't we tell Hermione about this? It will make her happier?" Harry asked, he was worried about his friend even though one of his new mums was with her.

Xander gave a quick call to Joyce and Hermione and there was soon a very happy twelve year old girl practically bouncing around Xander's living room.

"I found this in Albus' office. I recognized it instantly." Minerva explained as she handed a wrapped present to Harry. "It was your father's and I know he would want you to have it. Merlin knows how many times he actually got away with pranks due to that."

It was a soft package, it felt like clothes of some sort. But Harry was smart enough to actually rip it carefully open instead of playing guessing games.

It appeared to be sheet or blanket.

"Is it a bed sheet?" He asked, wondering if his father had slept in it.

Joyce and Minerva were giggling softly as Hermione approached and picked up an end.

"It's a cloak. A very special cloak." Joyce said somewhat cryptically.

"Help him put it on Hermione." Minerva suggested.

After a few moments they found a hood and collar and were able to place it around Harry's shoulders.

"Oh my!" Emma gasped as Hermione squeaked.

"What? What's wrong?" Harry asked worriedly.

"Let me see if I can conjure a mirror, I need to work on that." Xander said with a grin.

Conjuration was one thing Xander had issues with. Much of what he did was based on his interpretation of the rules. He still had issues with making something from nothing. He could transform anything into something else though.

Eventually a very plain full length mirror appeared.

"Adequate, but lacking in style." Minerva critiqued.

"Where's my body!" Harry squawked.

"It's still there, Harry." Joyce assured him. "That is your father's invisibility cloak."

"It is the answer as to how your father and his friends were able to break so many rules, pull so many pranks and basically be a nuisance… and yet never be caught." Minerva said with mild exasperation. "I trust I won't have to worry about you getting into trouble with it?" She asked pointedly.

"Err-"

"Aw, come one Minerva." Xander grinned. "I think it's a great idea. It will make great training too. In fact, I'm gonna get those two Weasley twins you always moan about to train him how to pull pranks."

"Why, in Merlin's name, would you do that?" She asked in horror.

"It will help him learn how to set traps and avoid getting caught. Useful skills. Come to think of it, I need to speak to Bill about having him train Harry and myself in curse breaking."

"Me too?" Hermione asked excitedly, never one to pass up a chance to learn.

"Yep, and Neville. He seems to be doing well and you two like him. Always good to have friends. Speaking of which, why don't we go down and wish your first friend a Merry Christmas?" Xander suggested.

"Who?" Dan asked.

"Hagrid!" Harry said happily as he ran to get his coat.

Xander, Harry and Hermione left the others in the warmth of the apartment to go and visit Hagrid. They enjoyed a hot cup of chocolate and learned the dangers of rock cakes.

"Hagrid, you might have teeth like diamonds and a jaw like a trash compactor, but us poor mortals simply don't have that ability." Xander said as he put the 'cake' back on the table.

"What's a trash compactor?"

Hermione then dove in and began to explain the non-magical device to Hagrid.

The following few days were uneventful. They relaxed at the Grangers and watched many hours of Christmas TV. All in the name of helping to educate Harry.

For Hermione, New Years Eve could not come fast enough. Her greatest wish was coming true.

Xander, Harry and the Grangers popped into the Hogwarts infirmary courtesy of Harry Air. Joyce, Poppy and Minerva were there waiting for them. Hermione eagerly rushed over and hopped up on a bed.

"Before you begin, can you explain the procedure and what tools you'll be using?" Dan asked professionally.

Poppy and Minerva exchanged a confused look whilst Xander and Joyce stifled a laugh and snort.

Hermione looked like she just found out she was going to have surgery without anaesthetic.

"Well… I'm going to take this." Poppy said holding her wand upright. "Point it at Miss Granger and say the incantation."

"And then what?" Emma asked with a frown.

"Pat her on the head and wish her a happy new year?" She asked uncertainly.

Dan and Emma looked just as confused and Xander burst out laughing leaving Joyce to make the explanation.

"It's magic. It works the same way Hermione transfigures things. This will merely be a permanent transfiguration of her teeth." She said.

"Harry, you been practicing your Mighty Morphin' powers?" Xander asked. No one but Joyce had a clue what he was on about, but he promised he would be taking a long-term vacation the following year for his health and safety.

Harry gave a nod. "Right, show us something with your teeth."

Harry scrunched up his face slightly and eventually he grew a pair of vampire fangs. When he finished he looked up with a big grin.

"Harry can do that naturally because he's special. The rest of us need more help so we have to use magic and spells." Xander explained. "You can shrink 'em Harry."

Harry pouted slightly but the teeth receded.

"Cutest vampire ever." Joyce grinned as she wrapped him in a hug.

Deciding to press on, Poppy simply turned and performed the incantation.

The entire process took less than ten seconds. The Grangers would have found the whole thing entirely anti-climatic if not for the knowledge that their beloved daughters lifelong wish had just been fulfilled.

Hermione Jean Granger would never be known as a bushy haired, buck toothed know it all.

She was now just a know it all.

"You look beautiful, honey." Dan told his daughter. And he meant it. Her happiness made her glow and helped them accept they had done the right thing.

"You look very pretty." Harry said slightly uncomfortably. He'd never had to compliment someone before.

Harry's compliment was rewarded with a tight hug from Hermione.

"What? Don't I get a hug?" Xander pouted. "After all, I did have to fight your dad in hand to hand combat whilst dodging demonic fireballs just to get him to agree."

Hermione just looked at him.

"Well… it felt like that." He muttered as shuffled his feet like an overgrown schoolboy.

He was quickly rewarded with a hug, despite his outlandish tales.

"Perhaps we could begin Xander's ritual?" Minerva interrupted.

"Absolutely, I am so looking forward to this!" Joyce said eagerly. It kinda worried Xander.

Minerva handed Xander a potion. "Drink this and it will force the change. Pay attention to the feelings as you will need to mimic them in order to change on your own. I trust you have been meditating?"

"Yeah… still worried about a hyena, the whole thing feels… doggish." He complained.

"I keep telling you that there is nothing to worry about." Joyce sighed.

"It was a FEMALE hyena, Joyce! If I come out of this missing vital parts of my anatomy… I won't be pleased." Xander huffed.

"I assume you are worried about being turned into a woman?" Dan asked with a smirk.

Xander just nodded vigorously.

"Well, those parts wouldn't exactly be vital on a woman… would they?" His smirk grew evil.

Xander just frowned at him. "Thanks for the help Dan." He snarked.

Xander looked at the vial of potion and growled to himself before swallowing it down quickly.

He placed the empty vial on a bed where Minerva quickly retrieved it in case it got broken.

Xander suddenly began to growl… but not his usual growl of displeasure or anger, this was a truly animalistic sound that the human vocal chords can barely produce. Xander dropped to his knees as his fingers began to shrink back into his hands. His mouth, jaw and nose began to protrude and fuse forming an obvious snout.

His eye patch vanished and a brand new eye could be seen growing in the socket.

Fur began to grow over all of his body as his clothes seemed to melt away. But he wasn't getting smaller to match an animal with a snout and fur, he was obviously canine in nature. He was getting bigger! He was already as tall as the hospital bed he was next to, but he was growing taller.

By the time he was finished he was as tall as Hermione and his body was as long as the bed.

"Sweet Merlin!" Minerva exclaimed. "Everyone back away, I'll try and contain him!"

"Relax Minerva, it's just Xander." Joyce said calmly.

Hermione, however, was backing away with a look of fear on her face. Dan and Emma were smart enough to trust their daughter and did the same, despite Joyce's assurances. No one wanted to take on what appeared to be a four-foot tall wolf.

"He's a werewolf!" Minerva screeched at Joyce as she pulled Poppy back, who also had her wand ready. Unfortunately, Xander had the Grangers on one side and the rest on the other, leaving the strongest and experienced magic users unable to defend the others.

Until Harry remembered his lessons from Xander and teleported in front of the Grangers.

"He… he looks like a normal wolf… a very large wolf, but… still a wolf." Dan managed.

"Sh-sh-short snout, st-st-stubby tail, pupils in the eyes… a werewolf." Hermione stuttered.

Xander meanwhile was just getting used to his new senses. And having proper depth perception.

The large wolf opened its mouth and a low guttural voice emerged.

"Joyce… explain." Xander was clearly not a happy bunny. In any sense of the word.

"You didn't just transform into an animal, but a magical one. You should retain the benefits of the werewolf without the downsides, such as having to change on a full moon and wanting to kill people." Joyce explained. "Try changing back."

Xander gave a short growl before he closed his eyes and reversed the transformation, shrinking and losing his fur as his clothes returned. His eye disappeared and was replaced with his patch.

Shortly, a human Xander was back in the hospital wing.

"Oh god. I feel like I need a shower." Xander moaned.

"Th-th-that is natural after you first transformation." Minerva managed to confirm.

"Why was he so big?" Poppy asked. "Even the alpha's of the pack aren't that big."

"Because Xander is not an Alpha. He's an Omega." Joyce said happily as she started to dance Xander in a circle with excitement.

Xander quickly put a hand down his trousers and breathed a sigh of relief.

This caused Dan and Harry to burst out laughing.

"What's an Omega?" Emma asked. The feeling of fear was dissipating now that the human Xander was back.

"We're supposed to be the lone wolves." Xander explained. "Runts of the pack who were pushed out and forced to live alone, eventually we start our own packs and become Alpha's ourselves." The Hyena episode had caused him to research pack behaviour, he was pretty well versed.

"Not amongst werewolves." Poppy said, fear still colouring her voice. "In Werewolves, the Omega is initially the runt, but after living alone and becoming stronger they tend to return and take control over any pack. Fenir Greyback is an Omega."

"Yes, but Xander appears to be an Omega of Omega's." Joyce said still clearly pleased with the situation. "But that does make sense considering that he was the weakest amongst his friends back home and they tried to push him out, now he is the strongest, he's done and seen things Greyback has never had nightmares about."

There was a few moments of silence as the digested that information.

"Please don't chase me!" Minerva suddenly blurted out.

"Aw, I wouldn't chase you Min. I don't think I have those sort of urges." Xander assured her.

Minerva sighed in relief.

"Ok, so you don't think I will need to spend each full moon in wolf form, but am I contagious?" Xander asked.

"Probably. But only in wolf form, werewolves are cursed creatures, you aren't." Joyce shrugged. "Most of this is guess work, there has never been a record of an omega werewolf. The next full moon will tell us more."

Poppy cast a quick spell, which caused an image of the moon and a date to appear. "The next full moon is February 7th."

"Here's hoping this isn't a three day event like it was for Oz." Xander muttered. "Those are going to be some long nights."

"Are you expecting those that Xander teaches, to become magical animals?" Minerva asked Joyce.

"To some degree, yes." Joyce confirmed. "But as with a standard animagus, each magical animal will be unique."

"When will we learn?" Harry asked.

"Soon, I guess. It is an advantage." Xander mused.

"So I won't become a beaver?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"Miss Granger, your physical attributes do not determine the animal you become, merely the markings your animals possess." Minerva lectured. She was a little disappointed that her star pupil had allowed her fears to overcome her common sense and knowledge.

It was agreed that Xander wouldn't register as an animagus. It wouldn't do for people to find out that the Head of Hogwarts Security was a werewolf. The group returned home for the next few days with a promise to return and see in the New Year with the rest of the castle. Joyce and Minerva really wanted to spend time with their son on their first new years as a family.

Minerva warned Xander that Albus had been notified that he could return at the beginning of the new term. There would be a meeting early that day to inform Albus of the conditions of his probation.

The next few days and New Years were thankfully event free. Although Xander scared Dan again when he bumped into him in the kitchen and had two eyes… two yellow wolf eyes.

Xander had apparently been experimenting with his wolf form by partially changing. It required concentration, but he could now see with two eyes. He tended to revert at night though.

*Chapter 7*: Chapter 7  
On the 3rd of January Xander left Harry and Hermione with Dan and Emma so he could attend the meeting with Albus. He would have to ride the train with Harry and Hermione so he could provide security for the whole train. It was now part of his job as the Head of Security for Hogwarts.

Xander, Joyce and Minerva were waiting at the school gates for Albus to turn up, there was a brief celebration over Xander's eyes, but they assured him that the unusual colouring would be overlooked as Madam Hooch had unusual eyes too. When Albus did arrive, they were not pleased. He had brought Severus Snape.

"There is no way on God's green earth that that bastard is getting in my school." Xander growled. "If I see him around Harry or Hermione I will consider him a threat and take him out with extreme prejudice."

Albus, Snape and Minerva looked a little confused.

"That means he'll be lucky to be alive by the time Xander is finished with him." Joyce explained with a scowl.

"Professor Snape is a fine Potions Master and teacher. His presence is required to provide the children with a suitable potions education." Albus said calmly.

"Not in this school he's not." Joyce hissed.

"I'm afraid I must insist." He said as he walked through the gate. "It is for the greater good. Come Severus."

Joyce looked on in amusement as Albus strode past. Severus Snape was finding he couldn't get past an invisible barrier.

"Albus, something is blocking the way." Severus hissed.

"That would be me. You will never step foot in this castle or it's grounds again. Should you manage to do so, you will be terminated on sight." Joyce said imperiously.

With that the gates slammed shut.

"Well Albus? Are you prepared to hear and abide by the terms of your probation or should we fire you now and simply promote Minerva?" Xander asked.

Albus however realized he would have to make some sacrifices if he was to keep his position. Headmaster of a school may not seem as important as Chief of the Wizengamot but it allowed him to view the future generations before they made an impact on the world. Not to mention the necessity of staying close to Harry Potter in order to guide him in the future battles.

"I suppose if I must." He sighed. "Severus, I will speak with you later."

Severus was about to cuss up a storm, it was unheard by the other four as Xander teleported them up to the Head's office. Xander had been practicing and had increased the amount of people he could teleport at a time and could now do it without contact.

Joyce meanwhile had sat down in the chair behind the desk. Commandeering the room. Minerva and Xander took two seats on either side of her whilst Xander conjured a simple chair for Albus. Minerva had told them how he liked to conjure fancy things. Likely just to make an impression.

Albus took in the situation and sighed. He sat regally in the provided chair. Fawkes was sitting on his perch eyeing the whole situation carefully.

Joyce started the meeting. "You have been found severely lacking in recent years as headmaster. The only reason you are being allowed a second chance is because of your previous years of effective service.

"You will abide by the following stipulations and terms or you will be fired and removed from the castle.

"One, you will no longer interfere with students lives beyond the needs of their education, health and safety whilst they live in the castle.

"Two, you will report any signs of abuse or neglect from outside the school to the school medic or myself and Xander. The school medic should be the first port of call, myself and Xander only if they are unavailable.

"Three, you will refrain from using your other positions outside of the school to influence the school and it's inhabitants. This includes squashing criminal proceedings against staff and pupils who have broken the law.

"Four, you will abandon all attempts to affect or influence Harry James Potter. Your only concern regarding him, is his education.

"These are the main stipulations. We reserve the right to add to them or remove them as necessary to the safety and security of the school and it's inhabitants.

"Your primary concerns as Headmaster, should be to provide adequate staffing, budgeting, educational curriculum planning and school codes of conduct. Any other matters must be discussed with the Deputy Head, Xander or myself, and yes, we hold veto over any staff appointments. Do you understand and agree."

The terms were meant to be vague and non-specific. Everything apart from the one regarding Harry. The three of them were more concerned with his actions outside of the school and his abuse of his position as Headmaster with regards to Harry.

Albus saw that there was not a lot of room for him to work with. But he also knew that they only had the children's interests at heart.

Albus believed there was sometime before the battle began. He hoped that by that time Harry would have finished his schooling and be ready for Albus to train him. In the meantime, he could work within his role as Headmaster and see to Harry's safety and happiness, hopefully endearing himself to the young boy.

"I agree. But I must state that Harry must return to the Dursley's were he will be safe."

"That is none of your concern." Xander growled.

Albus sighed. He knew when to pick his battles. "Then I agree."

"Understand, Albus, that we will be using our best judgment and not simply reacting without considering all the circumstances. If we feel that your actions were taken in good faith, we will respond accordingly." Joyce offered.

"I appreciate that." Albus said honestly. He did not believe his position to be tenable if it were not the case.

"Then there is one final thing that must be done before we can move on." Joyce said firmly. Her face turned hard and angry. "Get that damn stoned and those bloody traps out of my school!"

Albus went white. Or… whiter. "Madam, I have no where else to hide it. The bank is no longer safe."

"Bullshit." Xander said succinctly, Joyce had told him about the Philosopher's Stone being kept in the castle and how it was a magnet for trouble. "I was told of the report that the bank was broken into. Turns out a rather old goblin forgot to file a report that the vault had been emptied. The next day during an inspection, the alarm was sounded when things didn't tally up.

"The goblins were definitely embarrassed, but not because they failed in security. The old goblin has been forced to retire. Which unfortunately means he is in a shit load of trouble. He has disgraced the Goblin Nation."

The other three adults winced at that. Goblin punishments were harsh. If the old goblin wasn't dead, he'd soon wish he was.

"You have no power to change that?" Albus asked. Although not made known to the public, the Ministry of Magic was well aware of Xander's status.

"Nope. It would be like altering their religion. They'd rebel against me."

"Then what is the purpose of you becoming their king?" He asked.

"For me? Mainly to ensure they don't start another war. They were about ten years from the next one." Xander chuckled.

"You can discuss this later." Joyce said in frustration. "I want that stone and the traps gone."

"I will need to speak with Nicholas regarding his wishes. I believe he will wish the stone destroyed." Albus said sadly. "I will miss him. He has been a good friend."

"What is this 'stone'?" Xander asked. He had only been told it was trouble, he wasn't clear on the 'why'.

"The Philosopher's stone." Joyce answered. "It is used to make the Elixir of life, which, extends the drinkers lifespan indefinitely. It also has the ability to turn any metal into gold."

"Sounds pretty useless to me." Xander shrugged.

"It does have healing properties to rival a phoenix's tears and can increase the holders understanding of Alchemy so that anything is attainable." Albus added.

"Ok, sounding better." Xander conceded. "Ok, we'll go get the stone. I'll have it placed in the deepest vault in Gringotts. Albus, get this Nick guy to contact me. I have a few propositions for him."

As Xander was speaking he started out the door, with the others following.

"Erm, Joyce. Wanna lead the way?" He said sheepishly as he realized he had no idea where he was going.

Ten minutes later and they were outside the locked door on the third floor.

"Ok, so what sort of security is on the door?" Xander asked as he examined it closely.

"It has a lock." Joyce scowled.

"A lock?"

"Just a lock." She emphasized.

"There are other defences beyond the door." Albus pointed out indignantly.

"Yes, but those defences are lethal to nosy young children who can get past this lock with a simple Alohomora." Joyce hissed.

"Ok, moving on." Xander sighed as he phased through the door.

"Did he just walk through the door?" Albus asked in surprise.

Joyce ignored him as she opened the door, the lock accepting her without worry. Minerva rolled her eyes.

"Wait, Fluffy is in there!" Albus called out as he realized just where Xander had gone.

Albus rushed in with his wand out a stunner on his lips as he hoped to immobilize at least one of the heads of the Cerberus.

The sight of Xander scratching one of the heads behind the ear was not what he was expecting.

"Fluffy? Who the hell named this thing Fluffy?" Xander asked incredulously.

"The only person who would think this monster would make a good pet." Minerva said rolling her eyes.

"Ah… Hagrid." Xander muttered. "Well, I've given him orders to play nice with all the staff and students and anyone I point out. He'll make a good guard dog for the school."

"You… gave it orders?" Albus asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, he's a friendly little guy."

"Little?" Minerva asked with a raised eyebrow.

Xander ignored her. "Ok, so I'm guessing we go through the trapdoor." Xander mused as he pulled it open. "See you down there." He said as he stepped in and vanished.

A few seconds later and they heard his voice float back up followed by a billow of smoke. "Your protection was a bush? Fat lot of good that did." Xander's head suddenly reappeared.

Albus looked at him curiously, he didn't see him take a broom down there. He was very shocked when he saw Xander float out of the hole.

"Alright, I burnt the bush away, so we can continue. Minerva you bring Albus and I'll take Joyce." Xander instructed as he pulled Joyce to him and floated them up and into the hole.

"He-He-He can fly?" Albus asked weakly.

Minerva just grabbed him round the waist and began to float up causing the ancient professor to squawk in surprise.

"Great Merlin, how are you doing this?" He asked frantically as he held Minerva tighter.

"Xander taught me." She answered vaguely.

"Nice of you to join us." Xander drawled. He was currently standing in a room with a locked door, two broomsticks and a lot of flying keys. "Why would you leave the solution to the defences in the same damn room as the supposed defence?" Xander asked in disgust.

"It would take a skilled broom rider to catch the key to open this door." Albus said proudly.

Xander looked at him with a look of disappointment. Xander walked over to the door and walked through it. "Yep, real secure." He said sarcastically as he poked his head back through.

Albus huffed indignantly. "The average wizard does not possess your abilities!"

Xander waked back through. "Ok, let's pretend I'm 'average'."

Xander examined the door for a few more seconds. He then reached behind his back and pulled a huge battleaxe from nowhere.

Xander spent a good five minutes hacking the door down as Minerva and Joyce stood wincing and Albus looked on gobsmacked.

"Right, what's next?" He asked as he placed his axe back where it came from.

"Unfortunately, it is my addition to the protections." Minerva admitted. "I dread to think how you intend to defeat this."

In front of them was a huge chess set. Each piece was taller than they were.

"So… what? You have to play or the pieces attack you?"

"Yes." She sighed.

"Right, so I have to either beat the game… or if I was an average wizard…?" He mused to himself. "Aha!" He turned around and marched back into the room of keys. He returned shortly with the two brooms. "I don't know how to ride these, but I'm guessing they will get us past this?"

Minerva sighed but nodded defeated.

A few seconds later and Xander simply teleported them past the chessboard having made his point.

"Which of you is doing that?" Albus asked. He had assumed it was Joyce who was apparating them, but he no longer felt it was wise to make these assumptions around Xander.

"Oh, that's me. Quick and easy." He said happily as he opened the next door. "SWEET MERCIFUL MOTHER!" He squawked as a terrible stench hit his nose and he slammed the door shut. "What… is that?"

"A troll." Joyce said drolly.

"Well congratulations. You may have actually come up with a suitable defence. The smell alone is enough to keep the thieves out." Xander said sarcastically. "Can we just assume that I defeated the troll. We all know I could and I really don't want to be stuck in a room with that smell." He practically begged.

"I will attempt to cast a stunner, as I do not believe it is necessary to kill the beast without good reason." Albus agreed.

"Stunner?" Xander asked.

Minerva cast a stunner at the stone wall. "It knocks the target out for a period of time."

"Hmm, ok. Let me give it a shot." He said as he took a deep breath, held it, and opened the door. A blast of red light and a crash and a thump later and they walked through.

"Oh Xander." Minerva sighed slightly disappointed. "That was far too powerful."

The blast had sent the troll crashing into the wall. It was still embedded in the wall, it's large club rolling at it's feet.

"I'll, er, work on it." He said sheepishly.

They quickly hurried through to avoid the stench. Behind the next door was a wall of fire and a row of potion bottles.

"Please don't tell me they are supposed to put the fire out with what is in the bottles." Xander asked rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Of course not!" Albus said indignantly. "The instructions to find the right bottle is in the riddle. The right bottle will allow the drinker to walk through the fire unharmed."

"Given enough time, anyone with half a brain and an ounce of patience will work it out." Xander said. "How many more are there?"

"This is the last of the defences." Albus answered.

"For the record, Harry and Hermione could get here in less than fifteen minutes. Neville could do it on his own in an hour." Xander stated.

"I find that hard to believe." Albus sniffed.

"I don't." Minerva retorted. "Harry wouldn't even take that long. He could teleport past everything. The Weasley Twins could do it in an hour as well, and they aren't able to use Xander's techniques."

Xander teleported past the wall of fire and returned with a red stone. "I'm gonna take this to Gringotts. You three disassemble this mess and have Hagrid retrieve… Fluffy. I'll be back later with the train." Xander didn't wait for a response, he just vanished.

"For the record, he's very pissed at you. Harry, Neville and Hermione could get here easily. Another student could be killed at anytime." Joyce scowled at Albus. She grabbed Minerva and they vanished, leaving Albus Dumbledore to the clean up.

Xander was very happy to return to Harry and the Grangers. The whole episode with the Philosopher's Stone had pissed him off. The Stone was poorly guarded by lethal traps and tests which an older student could bypass but would kill the younger ones. And the only thing standing between them and death was a locked door.

He couldn't exactly lay all the blame on Dumbledore as the other teachers had been involved. The Stone was now in a vault in the depths of Gringotts guarded by a squad of vicious goblins and two dragons. Xander had never seen anything cooler.

Once everyone was ready they said their goodbyes to Dan and Emma with the promise of lots of letters and then the three vanished as they teleported to Kings Cross via Harry Air.

After dropping the kids and their luggage in a compartment, Xander started to patrol the train and made sure everyone was settled. He then headed back to the kids to rest until he decided to make another pass.

They were joined by Neville who was regaled with their tales and adventures of the holidays. Neville was very excited to find out he would be learning how to teleport and walk through doors.

Xander told the kids about his meeting with Dumbledore and the Philosopher's Stone. They were not sworn to secrecy about the stone, but he did warn them to stick to the story that Dumbledore had been gone for the term on a sabbatical.

Whilst Xander was making another patrol, a certain Slytherin showed a bit of cunning by choosing that time to come and be a bully.

"If it isn't a compartment full of filth." Draco said smarmily. "I'm surprised you even bothered to return. Haven't you learnt that magic isn't for scum like you?"

"Personally I find it interesting that you seem so interested in a compartment of 'filth'." Hermione responded calmly. "Is that because you are so used to it at home?"

Draco's face went red. He was very good at dishing out the abuse but not very good at receiving it. As he was about to respond he and his two goons just vanished.

"Harry… what did you do?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"Nothing, just made sure they can't be a bother." He said with an innocent look, which neither of the other two believed.

Xander had just spent half an hour heading up the train. He decided to put the kids in the last carriage so that he could guard the rear and leave the front to the driver and conductor. He was taking a slow stroll back when he noticed a line of students in the corridor.

"Something wrong with the compartments?" He asked young Terry Boot, who was at the front of the line.

"No sir, someone is in the loo and we all need to use it too." He said trying not to cross his legs.

"How long they been in there?"

"About fifteen minutes sir." Another boy answered.

Xander sighed and knocked on the door. "You ok in there?"

There was no response. Xander took a look at the lock and saw it was very simple. He didn't know the unlocking charm that Minerva and Joyce had mentioned, but he thought he'd give it a shot. He sent a small amount of magic at the lock, not wanting to blast it off the door. He was rewarded with the sound of the lock opening.

Xander slid the door back and just stared.

Terry Boot just stared.

The rest of the students attempted to get closer… and just stared.

"Draco, although I have no objection to same sex relations, if you want to make out with your boyfriends, I suggest you do it in a compartment. I will also remind you that the rules apply to you as well as heterosexual couples. Above the waist and over the clothes." Xander said desperately trying not to smirk. He had a very good idea of what had happened and how they wound up, all three, stuffed in a tiny cubical.

"Help… me!" Draco wheezed. There really wasn't any room in there.

Xander gave the room a quick glance. He decided to spare them the indignity of been wrenched out… mainly because he didn't want to touch them. He placed a hand on the door frame and focused on expanding the room.

The three boys were quick to escape into the corridor.

"I'm afraid I will have to notify the Headmaster and write your father about this Draco. And you as well." He told Crabbe and Goyle.

Draco went white. "It was all Potter's fault! He put us in here."

Xander knew that was probably true, he also knew there was literally no way to prove it and that they probably deserved it. Xander hated bullies.

"Right… so your saying that little Harry who couldn't lift his own body weight, managed to stuff you and the two hippo's into a tiny bathroom?" Xander asked dubiously.

"He used magic." Draco responded indignantly.

"Ok… so… you're saying he managed to perform a highly powerful and skilful amount of magic to do it and you couldn't defend yourself?"

As Xander predicted, Draco had no desire to allow Harry to be called powerful. "I… er."

"Right, clearly the inbreeding hasn't affected you yet." Xander said sarcastically. "Let's try another route, shall we? Why would Harry want to put you in there?"

Again, Xander knew Draco wouldn't admit he had started whatever had caused Harry to stuff him in the john.

"He… I… he's evil!" Draco blurted triumphantly. He looked to his two cronies and the nodded enthusiastically grunting along in that all too familiar language of goons.

Xander snorted. "Draco, I will be making a report and sending it to your parents. Feel free to file a complaint against Harry. But I will warn you that if you can't come up with some better excuses, you'll find yourself in a lot of trouble."

"Sir… can I…?" Terry was now hopping.

"Oh, sure. Yeah, pee away kid." Xander said stepping out of the way.

The door slammed closed.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Xander raised an eyebrow at the sound of ecstasy but just started walking away. He decided to speak to Fillius about sound proofing the johns except for an emergency. That and more toilets.

The rest of the trip back to the castle was quiet. Although Xander took one look at the stampede that occurred when the train pulled into Hogsmede and made a decision to have the prefects make the dis-embarkment more orderly. He had no desire to die under a herd of hormones.

Xander's new appearance of two eyes was met with a few looks and stares, but nothing more. The Headmasters return was met with even less excitement. Much to Dumbledore's dismay.

A few days later Lucius Malfoy was sitting in his parlour drinking a fine glass of brandy and reading a letter from Hogwarts about his son's behaviour. This was his third time through.

He could understand if there had been numerous complaints about Draco's treatment of the mudbloods, but that was to be understood. And the source of information used as it revealed just who he needed to squash.

But he was not expecting to receive notice that his son had been found, in what could only be considered a compromising position, with two of his minions… friends. Especially as they were both male.

There was no statement that they were engaged in anything beyond being present… but the implications were there.

"Narcissa, my dear, are you aware of Draco's… sexual preferences?" He asked his wife who was seated in a matching armchair and reading a book.

"I didn't think he was old enough to have any." Narcissa frowned as she put her book down.

"It would seem that he was found in a bathroom on the train with young Gregory and Vincent."

"Really?" She asked disbelievingly. "If memory serves, they were barely big enough to handle one person… let alone three."

"I suppose if one is… desperate enough…" Lucius said offhandedly.

"I suppose I will need to educate him over the summer about his duty as the Heir of Malfoy." Lucius muttered.

Narcissa didn't bother responding. As far as she was concerned, as long as that tosser Voldemort didn't come back, Draco could sleep with a Hippogriff. Her own marriage was a farce, and one she wished she could get out of. She was pretty much a broodmare. Her wedding night was more akin to a potions experiment than a romantic union of two bodies. As soon as she was pregnant, she moved into a bedroom of her own. Much to Lucius delight. She had known when marrying him that he was as gay as a summer's day. It was something that was kept very quiet. Apparently Voldemort didn't approve of that sort of thing. He did however approve of using women as she was used by the Malfoy family.

It wasn't a bad arrangement. She was well kept as long as she produced an heir. She was just glad that she hadn't had a stream of girls. She didn't need to become a blonde Molly Weasley.

If Narcissa ever found a way out of this marriage, she would take it. Lucius could have Draco. The little runt was an arrogant nuisance who treated her like a house elf. She had long ago bequeathed her house elf Minnie to her sister Andromeda, especially after she had seen how Dobby was treated. She would not risk her childhood friend in the House of Malfoy. But they did miss each other dearly.

Narcissa didn't care if Lucius took him to the brothel. He went often enough as there were men there to service his needs. It left her with nice quiet evenings, but she oh so wanted someone to love and love her, she was very lonely.

Narcissa responded blandly and unconcernedly to Lucius intent. "As long as you're discreet dear."

*Chapter 8*: Chapter 8  
Apologies for the mis-post... this should be the correct chapter.

Things quickly fell back into a routine. Xander held his extra classes with the three kids and spent a reasonable amount of time patrolling the school and working with Hagrid.

Madam Hooch had come and apologized to Harry and Xander for her lax handling of the near disastrous Quidditch Match. She had a reputation for fair play. She requested that Xander act as a safety spotter for the matches whilst she refereed. Xander agreed as safety was part of his job.

Soon after they returned from Christmas Holidays, Harry found himself surrounded by various fellow pupils from various houses. They did not look pleased.

"What is with you Potter?" An older Ravenclaw demanded.

Harry was suddenly wishing Xander was there. He could smell the hostility coming off the group.

"I- I don't understand." Harry said as he began backing away.

"We write to you, send you cards and you can't even bother to look us in the eye?" The boy snarled.

"B-B-But n-nobody writes t-to me." Harry stuttered. He was definitely beginning to think that Xander should probably follow him around, or vice verse.

"All of us have been sending you letters and packages for years. Not one of us has had a response, not even a blanket thank you in the paper. Are we not good enough for you to acknowledge?" He spat.

"Harry was telling the truth. He never received any letters." Came Xander's blessed voice. Harry sighed in relief but didn't move. "But that does raise a good question. Why didn't Harry receive the letters you sent?" Xander mused.

"He probably had servants take the gifts and burn the cards." The boy grumbled. Some of his compatriots seemed to agree… others weren't so sure.

"Servants?" Xander queried.

"He lives in a palace, everyone knows this."

Xander was very surprised. "Wow. Didn't see that coming. Listen, why don't you ask the two people who really have the answers. Professor McGonagall knows where Harry was living and my guess is that Dumbledore knows why he didn't get his mail.

"But do it at dinner time so everyone gets the answers."

"You want us to… ask Headmaster Dumbledore?" A young Hufflepuff asked in awe.

"He's a professor, right? It's his job to impart knowledge and teach. Ask him to teach the school about the life of Harry Potter." Xander shrugged. Without waiting for an answer, Xander began leading Harry off.

"Why do we have to tell them?" Harry moaned.

"Some secrets are best kept… secret. Others should be forced into the light of day. This a secret which should be shared.

"It is a bad thing that they seem to think you lived a life of riches, good food and happiness. Famous rich people and public figures find that the public tends to expect things of them. As if they think rich people owe them because of their wealth.

"We need to break these people of that otherwise you will never have any peace. People are far more likely to leave a poor abused child alone. They will probably offer lots of help and things to ease the suffering and even the memories of those sufferings."

It was just as the puddings were being cleared away that Xander stood up. "Now, before you all leave, some of you approached Harry Potter with some… concerns. I suggested that you ask the people actually responsible.

"So, you, Ralph, get up here and start with Professor McGonagall." Xander ordered briskly.

"It's Roger sir." The Ravenclaw corrected tersely. He was hoping they would just forget about it. But he knew he had no choice now, so he made his way to the staff table.

"Professor, everyone said that Potter lived in palaces and castles, is that true?"

Minerva shot a sharp glance at Xander. Xander just looked at her sternly and nodded sharply.

She cleared her throat. "Who, exactly, says these things?"

"All our books, and parents, Professor."

"Really? I am quite well read and all the books I have read written by scholars and the like state that Harry was hidden somewhere and not even sure if he was alive. What books?"

Roger turned a slight shade of red in embarrassment. "Children's books, ma'am."

"I trust that a Ravenclaw such as yourself sees the problem in your assumptions?" Roger nodded with a wince, it was quite embarrassing as tiny Professor Flitwick was banging his head on the table in shame. "Please explain for your fellow pupils then."

"Bottom line is that children's books are fiction. Not real. The only truth they really hold is the spelling, not that that counts for much in the wizarding world." Xander interrupted. He was well aware that asking a Ravenclaw to explain something required copious amounts of coffee and Dictaphone. "Minerva, please explain Harry Potter's living arrangements prior to his arrival here last year."

Minerva pursed her lips in annoyance, she wasn't happy at being interrupted, but she understood why.

"Mr. Potter was forced to live with his only surviving muggle relatives. Those relatives forced him to live in a tiny cupboard under the stairs.

"For ten years, since the day the Dark Lord was defeated until he left for Hogwarts, he was abused and mistreated."

There was a horrified silence in the Great Hall. Punctuated by the occasional sniffle. Xander was glad he had told Harry to stay in the Apartment and have dinner there with Joyce, Hermione and Neville.

"Who gave him to those muggles?" Xander asked calmly.

"Albus Dumbledore." Minerva spat. The hall was filled with gasps and mutterings.

"Children, Children!" Albus said calmingly as he stood. "Everything I did, I did for the Greater Good and Harry's safety."

This statement was met by even louder mutterings.

"SILENCE!" Xander shouted. "Albus, explain to these people why Harry was safe there?"

"As I have said many times before, due to the sacrifice his mother made, as long as he resided with a blood relative, he was safe from harm."

There were many things wrong with that statement. The whole concept of a mothers sacrifice for starters. But Xander knew he wouldn't get anything from Albus on that.

"But what about the fact that his relatives beat him? He wasn't safe from bullies at school. Why was he allowed to go to school, he wasn't with his relatives then, why did you allow him to come to Hogwarts even!" Xander rattled off.

"I… It was for the Greater Good." Albus clearly didn't have any answers and wasn't planning on giving any.

"Then explain what this 'Greater Good' is. What is so important that it required you to pretty much sacrifice a baby boy?" Xander demanded.

"It was for the Greater Good of all of you and the Wizarding World that Harry be kept safe!" Albus pleaded. "All of you dear children would be hurt or killed if Harry was hurt or killed."

"If that is the case, Albus, why did you force him to stay there with people who hated him and hurt him?" Minerve demanded. She knew she shouldn't be this emotional in front of the students, but this was Harry! Her son! Lilly was dear to her.

"Don't bother saying you didn't know Albus, we know you had someone nearby reporting to you." Xander said.

"It was the only way to keep him safe."

"We just stated and can prove that he wasn't safe and that you knew that. So why?"

"I have given my reasons." Albus said drawing himself up sternly. "I can give no more details without compromising state secrets."

"You disgust me Albus." Xander spat. "Return to your office and do not leave for a week." Xander ordered.

"I hardl-"

"NOW!" Xander roared, the full force of his wolf voice coming through and his yellow eyes glowing.

Albus stood up, he would have expected someone to have teleported him to his office. But Xander wanted him to walk passed the assembled students in shame.

The hall was deathly silent as Albus marched to the entrance with his head held high.

Xander sighed and slumped in his chair. "So now you have the truth. Harry is not a spoilt prince. He's a damned slave! Well, not anymore. I was sent here to this world to rescue Harry Potter. You have a problem with Harry Potter, you come to me!

"Due to all the abuse Harry has received, he is very quiet and shy. There are other reasons for this, but that is why he doesn't look people in the eye. It is common with people who have been abused and treated like Harry was. It's why if you see Harry laughing, you should think it is the best thing in the world. It means he is healing.

"Now, what you have been told is personal. The sort of thing that only Harry and Madam Pomphrey should know. But I convinced Harry that you should be told. He has already suffered for ten years. He doesn't need anymore.

"If you want to be his friend, respect him. If you don't, then just don't interact with him. But I will not tolerate him being mistreated… I won't tolerate anyone being mistreated." Xander stated firmly. "Now, you are dismissed."

The full moon passed and Xander didn't change. A party was held. Minerva nearly killed him when she found out he had kept the three kids up at Hagrid's till the early hours of the morning. It didn't help that Joyce was there as well. They could have at least invited her!

As the winter snow began to melt Hagrid caused a headache for Hermione. She really loved the gentle giant, but he had no idea how to keep a secret. She had been against telling him about Xander's animagus form. But Xander assured her they could pass it off as a rumour should he accidentally blab.

One evening Harry and Hermione had headed down to visit Hagrid, only to discover he was trying to hatch a dragon egg. He seemed oblivious to Hermione's cries and warnings that this was illegal. So she decided to confront Xander who was working on Neville and his confidence.

"It's illegal for a witch or wizard to own a dragon. He could go to Azkaban." She wailed.

"How come? Nobody complains about three headed dogs and owls." Xander mused.

"It's part of the Statute of Secrecy. If muggles saw dragons it would be devastating." She explained.

Xander thought about it for a second. "Ok, I have a solution."

He said nothing else but stood up and marched out of the classroom they were using for his lessons. The three kids hot on his tail.

Hagrid could be heard shuffling about in his hut as they knocked on the door. When it opened, Xander thought he could pass for a bustling mother with his apron.

"Oh… it's you." He said with a bit of disappointment.

"Good to see you too." Xander said sarcastically. "Ok, Hagrid. Harry and Hermione tell me you found a dragons egg."

"Nah, won it in a game down the Hog's Head." Hagrid said cheerfully.

"No Hagrid. Listen carefully. Harry and Hermione tell me you've found a dragons egg." Xander said earnestly.

Hagrid, God bless him, could be as thick as two short ones. But on occasion, he showed an intelligence and quick uptake that could put Dumbledore to shame.

"Eh… yeah… sure. Somewhere deep in the Forbidden Forest, not sure I could find the place again. Strange place to find a dragon's egg." Hagrid bluffed admirably as he placed the cauldron on the table.

Xander grinned, mainly in relief that the half-giant had caught on. "Well, as King of the Goblins, Lord of Hogwarts, I hereby claim this dragon egg and it's occupant on behalf of the school of Hogwarts. It will be tended to by Rubeus Hagrid and trained by the Goblin dragon handlers in defence of the school and her inhabitants."

Behind Xander, Hermione could be heard to say "oooh" in realization.

"What?" Harry asked in a whisper.

"A witch or wizard can't own a dragon. But an organization like Gringotts can. So can Hogwarts." Hermione explained.

"Yep, always pay attention to the exact wording." Xander instructed as he sat down at the table.

"Your jus' in time." Hagrid said as he took the shaking egg out of the cauldron with a pair of tongs. "'e's just abou' to hatch."

Harry, Neville and Hermione quickly gathered around the table, pulling up a chair each.

The egg began to crack as the baby dragon broke through emitting a little puff of smoke.

"Erm… Hagrid, is it really safe to have it in here? In this wooden hut?" Harry asked nervously.

"What's up Harry? Don't think Hermione doesn't know a good water charm?" Xander grinned.

Harry just rolled his eyes. "Why make more work?"

Within one minute the dragon was free of it's egg and stumbling cutely around the table and tripping and sliding on the pieces of it's shell.

"It's so cute!" Hermione nearly squealed. This reaction caused the four males to stare at the only girl in the room. This was atypical behaviour for Hermione Granger. Hermione Granger was a girl, yes. But she did not squeal.

"Prove me wrong!" She challenged defensively as she noticed the stares.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Is he dangerous?" He asked turning to Hagrid.

"Nah, no more than ol' Fang."

"In other words we're safe as long as he doesn't drown us to death with drool." Neville remarked dryly.

"Hagrid, I think a cave would be best for… whatever his name is. Have Fang and Fluffy start digging. I'll have the goblins come round to complete the work." Xander said as he started to get up.

"Norbert." Hagrid suddenly said proudly.

"Please don't tell me that's what you're naming him?" Xander said pleadingly.

"Why?" He asked innocently.

"Oh god. Never mind. Come on kids, let's call it a day."

Over the course of the next few months, Hagrid under went training with the goblins and Norbert became the star of Professor Kettleburn's Care of Magical Creatures class along with Fluffy. For some reason Harry and Norbert spent a good deal of time hissing at each other. Harry explained that he was pretty much just pretending to coo and baby talk, he swore he wasn't hissing. Neville tried the same thing but Norbert simply ignored him. As a result, Norbert could be found tottering around after Harry when he was near Hagrid's hut.

Xander found time to meet with Nicholas Flamel about his stone. Nicholas appeared to be a middle aged man with blond hair and blue eyes. He had a sense of humour that appealed to Xander. Xander managed to convince him to keep using the Elixir of Life until he could find someone to take over his life's work. He had been worried that all those centuries of work would be disposed of because of a little fear.

"Let's face it, the stone has two major properties, extending life spans and turning any metal to gold. It doesn't make a person invulnerable, so they can still be killed or locked up if they become a problem." Xander pointed out.

"I suppose you have a point." Nicholas conceded. "But we are beginning to tire. We have experienced a fair amount in our lives. We could really use some excitement." He said referring to himself and his wife.

"I have the perfect solution." Xander smiled. "Teaching. We could use a decent Potions Professor, the goblins are filling in, but they prefer not to be around humans for long, we kind of stink. Plus, Harry is supposed to be at the thick of things in the coming war. What better way to live the last act of your life, than by helping a young boy defeat a great evil?"

Needless to say, Xander caught his interest. Nicholas insisted on discussing it with his wife and meeting Harry, before making any decisions.

A week later, having met Harry, Hermione and Neville, and the two Flamels promised to be there bright and early at the beginning of the new school year.

As the months moved on, Norbert, Fluffy and Fang grew agitated. They became very aggressive towards the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid even had to call Harry out of class to calm Norbert.

A few days later and Xander found Hagrid rushing to meet him.

"Xander, some'ing's hurting unicorns!"

"That's terrible!" Hermione gasped. "Who would do that?"

"Dunno, but only a truly evil thing could do it." Hagrid said gravely. "I need your help to investigate."

"Ok, no problem. We can take Fang and Fluffy with us." Xander shrugged.

"Thing is, I need Harry to stay and watch Norbert whilst we're gone." He said looking to Harry.

"I can do that." Harry offered.

"We can help too." Hermione stated.

"Sorted then. When do we leave?" Xander asked.

"Sooner tha' better." Hagrid said as he shuffled off quickly.

There was still plenty of daylight left. It was late in the spring term and classes had just been let out so the three kids wouldn't have to miss lessons.

Xander and Hagrid had Fluffy and Fang out in front. Four noses sniffing away. The plan was to find the injured unicorn and hopefully get it to let Hagrid treat it. Hagrid had confided in Xander that the unicorns seemed to trust him. Probably because he smelt like an animal, or non-human, and was a virgin.

Despite the daylight, the canopy of the forest kept things reasonably shady. Hagrid was heading in the general direction of where he found the blood. Any creatures that could communicate and had information would find Hagrid and report.

They soon came across the silver blood and they waited for the two canines to start tracking. Then Xander remembered he had his own super snout and transformed to join them.

"This way." Xander said in his gravelly voice as he bounded off with the other two dogs hot on his heels.

They bounded along for five minutes or so before they slowed down and Xander transformed back. There, in a clearing, surrounded by four centaurs was an injured unicorn, bleeding from a wound to the right side.

"An Omega wolf!" One of the centaurs gasped.

"Why do you come here!" Another demanded. "Haven't your kind done enough?"

"My kind? A werewolf did this?" Xander asked.

"No, a human." The first said.

"Firenze!" Hagrid gasped breathlessly as he finally caught up. "Oh Merlin, no!" He exclaimed as he saw the unicorn.

Hagrid held out his hands, palms up and slowly approached. The centaurs backed off slightly. If the unicorn objected then it would soon let them know.

Hagrid was soon tending to the injured unicorn, tears streaming down his cheeks at the horror that some one could do this to such a pure creature.

"Don't suppose you guys know who did this?" Xander asked with a frown.

"We do not. And why would we work with a tainted one such as yourself?" A dark haired centaur retorted nastily.

"Bane!" Firenze retorted in shock. "I apologise, but no, we do not know who or what did this… or even could do this."

"What did he mean tainted one?"

"He refers to the fact that you are a werewolf. But his short-sightedness has caused him to overlook the fact that you have complete control over the change and that it is not a full moon."

"Yeah, full moons don't affect me. It's my animagus form." Xander explained. He changed allowed his wolf eyes to fade as his brown eye and patch reappeared.

"The One Who Sees!" Another centaur cried as they all took a step back in surprise.

"Oh god. I hate that name." Xander moaned.

"The stars have foretold of your coming." Firenze explained in awe. "You and your friends are always welcome in our forest."

"Erm, thanks." Xander shuffled uncomfortably. "I don't suppose the stars had any details about what I'm supposed to do?"

"Alas, no. They merely speak of the one who will rescue the chosen one, Harry Potter, and raise him as his son. One day he and his friends will aid the centaurs and other magical creatures to raise them to equality amongst man."

"That does sound like something Harry and Hermione would do." Xander chuckled fondly. "Ok, I'm guessing you guys are good trackers, but haven't found anything leading to the thing that hurt the unicorn?"

"No, the creature leaves no mark. We planned to follow the path of the unicorn itself to see if that would lead us somewhere once our healer arrived." Firenze explained.

"Marla's coming?" Hagrid asked as he looked up, having done all he could. "Good, I've done all I can to ease the pain and stop the bleeding, but Marla can have this beauty good as new by morning."

"Can you track by scent?" Xander asked.

"No, we can only listen and observe." Firenze admitted.

"Would you mind if my two friends and I sniff around, see if we can pick something up?"

"Of course. But I recommend that only you approach the unicorn, it will not react well to the others."

Xander gave his orders to Fluffy and Fang as he changed back to his wolf form. The other two began casting around the clearing, searching for a strange scent. Xander slowly approached the unicorn, sniffing carefully. He didn't want to offend the unicorn by getting too close.

Xander could smell something, but it smelt like death. Like a body that had been left to rot for several days.

"I smell death. Have your Healer bathe the unicorn and remove the smell, it may never be accepted back in the herd otherwise." Xander growled.

"He can speak as a wolf?" Bane exclaimed in surprise.

"I can also hear as a wolf." Xander snickered. "Fluffy, Fang. Search for the smell of death." He ordered.

It didn't take long for Fang to suddenly let out a bark and howl of excitement. Xander quickly trotted over and confirmed Fang's find.

"Hagrid, we have the trail. We should go now." Xander snapped. "We will leave the care of the unicorn in your hands." He told Firenze as he didn't wait but ran off quickly disappearing. Fluffy was hot on his tail with Fang waiting for Hagrid so he didn't get lost.

A minute into his run Xander's stomach turned to ice as he realized the trail was on a direct course for the castle. He let out a howl and increased his speed. He couldn't teleport as he didn't know where the trail led.

Two minutes later and Xander realized the trail led straight to Hagrid's hut and the three kids. He transformed and teleported straight into the hut.

To his horror, lying on the floor was Hermione and Neville. Harry was no where in sight and Norbert was mewling worriedly as he nuzzled Neville. A quick check of pulses and he was relieved to find they were just unconscious. He focused and teleported everyone including Norbert to the Hospital Wing.

"POPPY!" Xander shouted causing the school nurse to come barrelling out of her office.

Poppy saw the two children and the baby dragon and immediately got to work scanning. "What happened?"

"No idea, but Harry is missing. I really need to talk to them." He said trying not to growl and bark as his canine side mixed with his parental side.

"Their just unconscious. Probably a stunning spell." She declared. "Enervate." She intoned at Hermione.

Hermione was confused and a little scared as she woke up in a strange place. Especially as she didn't remember going to sleep. Then her memories flooded back.

"Xander!" She cried.

"I'm right here, 'Mione." He said approaching calmly.

"Xander! He's got Harry! Quirrell took Harry." She said anxiously.

"Don't worry, I'll get him back." He assured her as he vanished without warning, a grim smile on his face.

When Hagrid had arrived back at his hut after following Fang, he found Fluffy sitting outside waiting patiently. A quick inspection of the inside revealed the missing kids and dragons. Then Xander reappeared.

"Quirrell stunned Hermione and Neville. He kidnapped Harry." Xander reported. "I think it's time we got him back."

"I'm ready when you are." Hagrid declared as he hefted his crossbow.

"I'm going to teleport the four of us to Harry. Be prepared to land in a fire fight and be careful not to hit Harry." Xander warned.

The four of them moved so they had their backs to each other, and vanished.

Quirrell was scared.

He had planned the theft of the stone meticulously. He had tricked the oaf, Hagrid, into revealing the secrets of how to contain the Cerberus. That was all he needed to know. He knew the other teachers involved in the defence of the stone and his master would be able to help him defeat them.

But then that annoying muggle had arrived and the stone had been removed from the school. Rumour was, that it was now in the depths of Gringotts guarded by an army of dragons and goblins. Even Lord Voldemort wouldn't try and steal from that.

His master had been forced to drink unicorn blood. Catching the damned things was hard enough, but the actual act was eating away at Quirrell's soul. He knew his body was dying from hosting the spirit of Lord Voldemort, but Lord Voldemort had promised he would fix that on his resurrection.

Voldemort wanted revenge on the person responsible for his current state. He wanted to kill Harry Potter.

He knew as soon as he heard the oaf, Hagrid, shouting about injured unicorns, that it would not be long before they tracked it back to him. So he had acted quickly, following his master's orders. He had stunned the mudblood and the blood traitor, killing them would have set off all sorts of annoying alarms and caused him to rush his final act before withdrawing from the castle.

Others would have called it 'retreating' or 'fleeing'. But not Lord Voldemort.

He had brought the boy, unconscious, to the former hiding place of the Philosopher's Stone. Soon the boy would suffer and die and he would know that Lord Voldemort was his better.

Harry felt awareness seep into his mind. He quickly took stock of what his senses could tell him without opening his eyes. He had learnt the benefits of this after many concussions from Vernon.

He knew he wasn't in Hagrid's hut. He couldn't hear Norbert but he could hear an adult breathing.

"I know you're awake boy." Harry flinched. Only the Dursleys called him 'boy'. He didn't like it. The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it.

Deciding the game was up, Harry opened his eyes and sat up. He found himself in a large stone room with arches. In front of him was Professor Quirrell.

"Why am I here?" Harry asked. He hadn't really liked the professor, there was something wrong with him. He didn't trust that stutter.

"You, my boy, are here to bear witness to the Great Lord Voldemort, before he kills you." Quirrell said with a smarmy smile.

He began to remove his turban, a vile stench filling the room as he did so.

Quirrell turned his back on Harry as the last of the wrappings fell away. There, protruding from the back of Quirrell's head was a second face.

"We meet again, Potter." The voice spat.

"Voldemort." Harry said quietly. He refused to show fear, even if this thing had killed his parents.

"That's Lord Voldemort!" The thing screeched.

Harry thought about that for a second. "Who says? Did the Queen make you a Lord?"

The thing was taken aback. Fear was usually the response to his presence. Not the calm questioning of his title.

"That muggle bitch has no power over the Great Lord Voldemort." The thing said proudly. "How does it feel to know that I, the Great Lord Voldemort, will kill you and remove your taint from the earth?"

"Like nothing." Harry shrugged. What exactly was something like that supposed to feel like! "Xander says I'm the most powerful wizard in the country. But I think Joyce is right, Xander is the greatest, he doesn't need power, just… his ability to control magic." Harry said proudly.

It had been a discussion he and Joyce had had one evening. Harry had asked if Xander was the greatest wizard ever after seeing what he could do and how he seemed to break all the known laws of magic. Joyce had responded that although he was currently the greatest, they all hoped and expected Harry to assume that role as he got older as he was the most powerful wizard alive. According to Joyce, she had never met anyone more powerful in her 1000 years.

By the end of the discussion, Harry had managed to get his point across that Xander's lack of raw power was made up for by the way he thought.

Xander had entered his life by rescuing himself and Hermione from a troll. He had then removed the threat of the Dursleys and given him a family. To Harry's eleven year old mind, that made Xander his hero and the greatest wizard ever.

But this is something that Voldemort could never admit.

"I will destroy him as easily as I destroyed your blood traitor father and mudblood mother." He snarled.

Harry didn't know what those terms meant, but he didn't like them. "Don't talk about my parents!" He shouted.

"Silence boy, I would have killed you when I sabotaged your broom. But the freak managed to save you." Voldemort paused in consideration. "I know he taught you his secrets of flight and teleportation. Reveal those secrets to me and I will make your death quick."

"No." Harry said calmly.

"CRUCIO!"

It took a fraction of a second for Harry to realize he was in pain. Severe pain. Only, he was Harry Potter. He had been beaten by Vernon and Dudley many times. This pain was different, but it was still pain. And he was used to pain.

The pain stopped abruptly.

"Tell me the secrets!" Voldemort screeched.

"N-n-no." Harry stuttered through clenched teeth.

"Cru-"

The curse died on his lips as Xander suddenly appeared and sliced the head from the body of Quirrell.

"My son said no!" Xander was clearly filled with rage.

As the body lay in two parts, a dark mist rose from within and floated up. Hagrid and Xander took up positions between Harry and the mist. But they had no idea how to fight an incorporeal being.

The mist coalesced into a wraith like being with a badly defined face, it roared in anger and charged at Xander, swooping up and over before ploughing into Harry and then speeding through the exits.

Xander and Hagrid shared a glance before deciding the danger had passed. They both rushed to Harry who was now unconscious but alive. Xander teleported the three of them to the hospital wing leaving Fluffy and Fang to not let anyone approach the body except himself and Hagrid.

Xander needed to tend to his son.

When Harry awoke this time, he still didn't know where he was, but he didn't feel a sense of foreboding. He could hear breathing.

"About time you decided to wake up lazy bones." Came Xander's voice.

Harry opened his eyes to see Xander sitting in a chair by the side of his bed. He was clearly in the hospital wing.

"HARRY!" Hermione squealed causing both he and Xander to wince.

"Shh… loud noises are bad when you just wake up." Neville admonished.

"Thanks Nev." Harry muttered gratefully.

Hermione looked contrite and whispered. "Sorry Harry."

"I'm going to get Joyce and Minerva. They have been worried sick about you." Xander said before vanishing from his seat, only to reappear ten seconds later.

"Xander! I was in the middle of a class!" Minerva admonished. "Oh, Harry!" She cried as she saw her adopted son awake and alert.

Xander quickly vanished and reappeared. "I just dismissed them. Not that I think you care at the moment." Xander chuckled as Harry was currently being hugged to death by both Minerva and Joyce. Hermione only held out a second longer before joining them.

Xander and Neville eventually managed to pry Harry free and they all sat down on conjured chairs as Poppy bustled about whilst trying to make sure he was ok.

"Congratulations Harry. You have now faced an evil wizard twice and come out on top both times." Xander said proudly.

Harry thought about that for a few seconds. He had vague memories of a Xander and Hagrid saving him. "Didn't you cut off Professor Quirrell's head?"

Neville and Hermione looked a little green at that. Xander just nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner, Harry." Xander said sadly. He had been berating himself for failing his son.

"It's ok. I'm guessing you came as soon as you knew." Harry said unconcernedly.

"Yeah. We found Neville and Hermione unconscious and brought them here. As soon as Hermione told us what happened, Hagrid and I teleported in to get you, I didn't bother to wait. Just lopped his noggin off. Sometimes there is no need to let the bad guys do their speeches."

"Oh." Harry said slightly red faced.

"What is it Harry?" Joyce asked.

"I… I let Voldemort talk. I didn't know what else to do. I was still too blurry to teleport or fly."

"I said 'sometimes' Harry. You did perfectly. Starting next year though, we will be doing some slight physical training. Need to teach you how to duck." Xander assured him.

Harry relaxed slightly as he accepted Xander's word. "How long was I asleep?"

"The better part of two days. There is only a week of school left." Minerva answered. "We have postponed the last Quidditch match so you can attend and play if you wish."

"And just so you know. We gave a full report on what happened to you to the school. Well, except what Voldemort actually said. Just the fact that you faced him and survived whilst Xander killed him." Joyce said, she didn't want Harry to walk back into the school unawares. "You will need to meet with Amelia Bones, the head of the Magical Department of Law Enforcement as this was a major crime."

Harry just nodded. He knew a bit more about how the world worked thanks to Xander and his films. They always left him with questions that Xander, Joyce and Hermione would answer for him.

*Chapter 9*: Chapter 9  
The next day Harry was released by Poppy in the afternoon, just in time for dinner. He was accompanied by Hermione, Neville and Joyce.

As they stepped through the doorway, the great hall fell silent.

Everyone was looking at Harry. The expressions were mainly of awe, but there was some fear and disbelief. Many of the Slytherins appeared uncomfortable, they shifted nervously.

Professor Dumbledore stood and cleared his throat, breaking the tension and drawing everyone to look at him. "As you are all aware, Mr. Potter has recently been in an encounter with Lord Voldemort. Clearly has managed to come out on top. Please refrain from pestering him with questions unnecessarily." He requested firmly.

"One moment, Headmaster." Xander interrupted as he made his way from the staff table to Harry.

The hall broke out into whispers. Most were about Harry, but a good few were about the fact that Professor Harris had openly contradicted the Headmaster. No one had ever done that as far as anyone remembered.

Harry and Xander were having an intense conversation. Xander appeared to be trying to convince Harry of something and Harry was vehemently disagreeing.

Joyce eventually leant down and whispered in Harry's ear. Whatever it was, it caused him to sigh and sag in defeat as he finally nodded.

Xander gave him a pat on the back and led the way to the staff table with Joyce shepherding the three kids behind him.

"Ok, Harry has agreed to tell you what he remembers. Afterwards, we will both answer any questions you have. Hopefully Hagrid can help?" He asked turning to the half giant sitting at the staff table.

Hagrid gave a nod, then deciding Harry could probably use a few more people around him, he got up and walked around the table to stand behind Harry.

"Just tell 'em what ya remember." Hagrid encouraged.

Dumbledore frowned at this and stood up. "Professor Harris, I do not believe it is wise to subject Mr. Potter to this level of exposure. It could prove detrimental to his… him." He had wanted to say ego, but that would have been an accusation too far for Professor Harris and the other students.

"Well, fortunately for you, older and smarter people are here to prove you wrong and guide Harry properly." Xander frowned back.

"Older?" Dumbledore asked in amusement.

"A thousand years, Albus." Joyce responded without turning towards him. "Now, Harry. Tell us what happened. Why don't you start with what happened when you woke up after Quirrell knocked you out?"

"I… He knew I was awake." Harry said nervously as he twisted his fingers in front of himself. "He was… talking a lot. Talking about my parents, how he killed them. He… he said he was the greatest wizard… I told him Xander was. He wanted to know how Xander taught me to fly and teleport. I said no. He cast a spell at me. It was very painful. He said 'Crucio'." There were gasps of outrage from the staff table and older students. The younger ones looked confused. Several Slytherins were smirking openly. "Then Xander appeared and cut his head off. I don't remember anything else."

"For those of you who don't know. The Cruciatus curse is known as an Unforgiveable. It will cost you a mandatory life sentence in Azkaban." Joyce informed them.

"Right, that is the last piece of the story that you were missing. I've already told you what happened from my perspective." Xander said. "Now, do you have any questions, put your hand up if you do?"

A good number of hands went up.

Deciding to make things a little easier on Harry, Joyce decided to let one of his Gryffindor friends ask the first question.

"Dean, what's your question?"

"Can we see the sword you used to cut off his head?" He asked timidly.

Harry visibly relaxed as the first question was not for him. Xander chuckled, he knew that young boys liked their violence and weapons. Minerva rolled her eyes along with many of the females in the room.

Xander reached behind his back and pulled out his sword. A simple Japanese Katana. He had been watching the Slayers fight a battle against a lot of vamps one evening. He wasn't worried about the girls as the vamps were mainly newbies. Xander was simply standing ready to pull out the injured and watch their backs.

His mind was taken back to the battle of Sunnydale. Why did they send the girls to fight in close quarter combat with only a very short stick for a weapon. If they had swords, they wouldn't have to get too close and wind up grappling with something that wanted to take a bite out of you.

As a result of discussions with the rest of the Scoobies, all Slayers had been issued with a Katana as standard weaponry load out. Several months later, Willow came up with the idea for the pocket dimension linked to all the watchers and slayers so they could carry multiple weapons. The katana sliced through vamps with ease. But the battleaxe was needed for the armour-plated demons.

Xander held the sword across his palms and saw the kids staring at it.

The tables were still clear as they hadn't started to eat yet. He placed the sword over the Gryffindor table and let go. It floated about six inches above the table.

"Look, but do not touch." Xander warned as he nudged it gently causing it to float slowly down the table. He turned to the rest of the school. "I'll do the same with the rest of the tables." He assured them.

"Ok, next question." Joyce called out. "Penelope?"

"What happened with the unicorn?"

It was a question that got the attention of most of the girls. There were a few quivery lips. Xander and Hagrid had told their side of the story already. Harry was also curious. The unicorn was pretty much the start of the whole adventure for him.

"And how's Norbert?" Harry added. This got the attention of most of the boys.

Hagrid took these questions. "Ah, well… Norbert is missing you some'ing fierce. I think he knows where you are an' keeps trying ta fly. 'Course 'is wings ain't that strong yet.

"The unicorn is doing fine so far. The centaurs intend to take him back to the herd soon."

"Excellent." Joyce said happily. "Next? Ernie?"

"Were you scared, Harry?"

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. As far as he was concerned the answer was obvious. "Yes… very."

There were a few snorts of derision. It was only natural that a bunch of teenagers would take the first opportunity they could to deride another.

Neville and Hermione were very angry.

"Yeah, like you lot would do any better." George Weasley called out angrily.

"Most of you piss your pants when you see Norbert or Fluffy!" Fred added.

"Easy boys, there just frightened right now. They are currently in the presence of three wizards who faced and defeated a once powerful and evil wizard." Joyce said loftily.

"This is a lesson I try to teach my students: A man with no fear is a fool. A man who can work past his fears is brave and courageous. That man is a hero." Xander said with a soft authority.

There was a few minutes of silence as the students absorbed that. Dumbledore was behind them and they didn't see the look of surprise on his face. He didn't think these children would understand such concepts, but they seemed to be listening and learning.

"Ok, next question. Draco?" Joyce offered.

Malfoy stood up with a confident smirk. Everyone in the room knew that whatever he was about say would likely result in his pain and humiliation.

"What was it like Potter? To stand in the presence of a truly great wizard?"

There were several rolled eyes, groans and clenched fists. Somehow… there was even a pair of flying briefs. It made a perfect arc and landed straight on Malfoy's head. There was a pregnant silence… and the hall erupted in laughter and Malfoy began to boil with rage.

"Silence!" Dumbledore commanded. There were a few sniggers, but things got relatively quiet.

Dumbledore opened his mouth to begin to berate the school but Joyce beat him too it.

"Next time you want to spout off stupidity, do it at home. None of us wants to see your dirty laundry." Joyce declared snidely.

At this point Draco came to the realization that the underwear on his head was his and he was feeling decidedly… unsupported.

The underwear was suddenly vanished and Joyce turned to see Dumbledore with his wand out. "Mrs. Summers, Mr. Malfoy did nothing wrong and that stunt with the underwear was uncalled for."

"That's 'Professor Summers' or 'Lady Hogwarts' to you Professor Dumbledore." Joyce said with a glare. "And it was entirely necessary. Draco Malfoy needs to change his attitude or he is going to be in a whole heap of trouble next year. I will not be standing for anymore of his bigotry."

Dumbledore looked like he was about to argue, then he remembered what happened the last time he did that and his suspension. So he changed his mind, shut his mouth and sat down.

Draco had already done the last two, despite still seething with rage and embarrassment.

"Now, are there any sensible questions?" Joyce asked.

Deciding to offer the Slytherin house a chance to redeem themselves, she called upon Daphne Greengrass to ask a question.

"Will he be back?"

The question was asked confidently. But it was clear to the adults that the young girl was afraid. The question had placed all the attention of the Great Hall on Joyce and Xander.

"Based on what happened when we defeated him… yes." There were a few whimpers and gasps of fear. "But lets be honest. This is the second time he has been defeated by Harry Potter. If he can't take out a one year old baby or an eleven year old boy… what chance do you think he's going to have against Harry once he gets older?"

Dumbledore was staring with a gaping jaw at what Xander had said. He had just singled Harry Potter out, this was far worse than stroking the boys ego.

"And until Harry is ready to face him on his own terms, I'll be there to keep him safe and Voldemort in check. Once he is ready, I'll still be there to watch his back." Xander assured them.

"Anymore questions?" Joyce asked. "Alicia Spinnet?"

"Will he ever be gone for good?" She asked hopefully.

"Yes. One day he will be permanently defeated or incarcerated." Joyce said with absolute certainty and conviction.

"Professor Summers, perhaps we should end it there." Professor McGonagall suggested. "I believe the most pertinent questions have been answered. And the children have yet to eat."

Joyce blushed. "Oh dear, I had forgotten! Please, begin your meal." She said as food appeared. Xander walked over to the Slytherin table to retrieve his sword.

Harry, Hermione and Neville went back to their table. Harry sat in the middle as the other two provided a buffer between him and the students. He was very grateful. Hermione managed to keep them engaged in simple conversations. All of which revolved around her studies.

The rest of the final week was fairly hectic for Harry. He had several check-ups with Poppy and Dumbledore kept wanting to speak to him, but Xander, Joyce and Minerva seemed to be blocking him. Whenever he approached and Xander or Minerva where not around, Joyce would suddenly appear. Eventually the adults… and Xander cornered him in his office.

"You are coming very close to crossing the line that will get you fired." Xander said with a severe frown.

"I must speak with the boy to determine exactly what the Dark Lord said to him. It could be key to his next move." Dumbledore explained.

"We have already spoken with him." Joyce said indicating herself, Minerva and Xander. "We are the only ones other than Madam Bones who need to talk to him."

"That's another thing. I really don't think this needs to be reported to the ministry. They simply can't handle this sort of thing."

"Well it's about time they learnt how to handle this sort of thing!" Xander retorted.

"I would have thought you of all people, Xander, would understand the need for secrecy." Dumbledore said as he tried to appeal to the former demon hunter and slayer wrangler.

"That was because my world didn't know about those sorts of things and wouldn't be able to handle those sorts of things." Xander answered, he was pretty miffed at the insinuation that the two of them had anything in common. "This world already knows about Voldemort, stop that Minerva!" He admonished as the Professor shuddered. "More importantly, if he does return in force, then he will likely head for the ministry first… whether covertly or openly doesn't matter, they still need to be prepared."

"And that doesn't even begin to address the fact that the parents deserve to know the dangers their children were in." Minerva added.

Dumbledore sighed. He knew he wasn't going to win this argument. He would work on damage control afterwards. "Was it really necessary to make Harry out to be a celebrity? He could become very dangerous if his ego becomes out of control."

At this point Xander had to be physically restrained by Joyce. Minerva however was free and clear to slap Albus around the face. This seemed to satisfy Xander so Joyce relaxed her hold.

"You better watch your mouth old man." Xander snarled. "We don't appreciate anyone talking about our son like that." Xander then stormed out of the office as Fawkes cooed sadly.

"Stay away from Harry, Albus." Minerva warned as she followed after Xander.

"You approach Harry again about this and you're done Dumbledore." Joyce added as she walked out, not even looking at him.

Dumbledore sighed. "They simply do not understand that I only have the best interests at heart and that I am the most experienced and logical person to lead them." He said sadly to Fawkes.

Fawkes just snorted and flew out the window.

Albus watched, mildly perturbed. "Must be hungry."

Rather than have Harry explain again what happened to Madam Bones, they extracted a memory from Harry and Xander.

It didn't take long for her to come back out, slightly pale but very shaken.

It took her a good few minutes before she was able to talk.

Harry just sat there patiently. It was something he was very good at.

"Mr. Potter… May I call you Harry?"

Harry just looked to Xander, who gave him a small smile and slight nod. He turned back to Madam Bones.

"Yes Ma'am." He said respectfully, causing her to smile.

"Excellent. Call me Amelia, at least in private." She said warmly. "You were very brave. I could see you were scared, but you held your ground very well. Unfortunately we can't question Professor Quirrell due to…"

"His lack of a head?" Xander offered.

"Indeed." She said with narrowed eyes but a slight smirk. "But we will be investigating just how he came to be possessed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"Who?" Xander asked.

"The Dark Lord."

"Can't you just call him Voldemort? Or Voldie?" Xander asked in exasperation.

Amelia shuddered. "It is a hard thing for us to do My Lord. He caused a lot of fear during the first war and his name was part of that."

"I suggest you try. You can't exactly inspire your citizens if they think you can't handle a threat." Xander retorted.

"You are of course, right." Amelia sighed. "I may not be the right person to instigate such a change. You, on the other hand, are brand new to this world, as is Harry, to an extent. People may follow your lead, especially after your defeat of… Voldemort."

She gave Xander the evil eye as he gave her a thumbs up. Harry just sniggered.

"I will keep you informed of the investigation." Amelia assured them. "Would it be possible to have the head of Professor Quirrell for disposal… it wasn't with the rest of the remains."

"No." Xander said simply. "Goblin tradition. I am required as the warrior leader to keep a trophy of my kills. If you want to see it, then I suggest you be outside Gringotts at midday on Saturday."

"I… I'm not going to ask." She said as she packed up her papers.

"Smart move." Joyce said with a smirk as she appeared with Minerva.

"Lady Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall." Amelia greeted.

"Madam Bones, and please, it's just Joyce and Minerva. Unless you're Dumbledore." Joyce said with a slight growl.

"Amelia, then. I do apologise again for being unable to prevent the miscarriage of justice regarding Severus Snape." She said apologetically.

"We understand, and it's obviously not your fault." Minerva assured her.

"Thank you. May I ask, how is Susan fitting in?" The aunt and parent in her making an appearance.

"The red head in… Hufflepuff?" Xander asked.

Amelia nodded.

"She's doing well. Made a few friends. Sticks close to a girl named Hannah." Xander told her.

"Oh, good. It is fairly lonely as a child, growing up before Hogwarts. More so for ones like Susan and Harry who lost their parents."

"Harry and Neville seemed to be friends with the oldest Weasley and the Tonks girl before Voldemort was dealt with." Xander pointed out. "They would babysit him. Why isn't there a day-care or pre-school system in the wizarding world?"

"It's due to the fact that the wizarding world hasn't evolved culturally beyond the Victorian Age." Joyce explained. "They still rely on the magical equivalent of nannies and tutors. They are home schooled and only interact with other children at social functions. And even then, barely."

"I would be more than happy to offer my support as a member of the Wizengamot to any suitable endeavours you wish to put forward." Amelia offered. "In the meantime, could I impose on you to pass a message on to my niece that I will meet her myself at the station?"

"No problemo." Xander grinned.

"Thank you. It was very nice to meet you all. And a definite honour to meet you Harry. If you get the chance, I would appreciate it if you could visit me at some point during my office hours. I have some items to discuss in private." She asked Xander.

"Sure, I don't have much planned for the holidays." Xander shrugged.

Dumbledore behaved himself for the rest of the week, but Fawkes was still "out hunting". No one bothered to remind the Headmaster that a Phoenix didn't eat meat.

For the first time in years, Slytherin was at the bottom for the Quidditch and House Cups. Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup and Hufflepuff won the House Cup.

The ride home was uneventful, Malfoy had decided to avoid Potter and his groupies. He took to terrorizing the other first years. Xander made his usual rounds leaving Harry, Hermione and Neville to entertain themselves.

Once at the station they said goodbye to Neville. Xander watched and kept an eye on the kids as they greeted parents and family that some hadn't seen in nine months. That done Harry teleported them all to the Granger's where they were all engulfed in hugs and more reunions.

That Saturday, Xander took Harry and the Grangers to Gringotts. There he was handed a canvas bag by one of the goblins. They then made their way out side with a full goblin guard, consisting of six goblins in battle armour with spears and shields.

Xander conjured a platform and podium and then climbed up.

"Hear me citizens of Great Britain." He said in a clear and loud voice. The denizens and patrons of the shopping district turned and looked towards the disturbance.

"I am Lord Alexander Harris of Hogwarts, King of the Goblins. This is my son, Harry Potter." He said as he gestured a nervous Harry to join him. "I stand here before you, to give you a message. Any who would attack and harm my friends and family as did Professor Quirrell and Voldemort" The crowd gasped and some even fainted "will suffer the same fate as them."

At this, Xander reached into the bag and pulled out Quirrell's severed head.

A few more people fainted.

Xander passed the head to one of the goblins who proceeded to hang it on the white wall to the left of the huge doors. A sign appeared over the head:

Quirrenous Quirrell/Lord Voldemort

Executed for attacking the son of the King of the Goblins.

"The next person who decides to attack my friends and family, will find their heads joining that one." Xander snarled.

Xander then gestured Harry to precede him and the two went into the bank leaving a speechless crowd behind.

Amelia Bones, having been warned by Xander that something would happen but not what would happen was one of the speechless ones. She had a feeling it would be big, but this was huge! She suddenly heard familiar voices.

"Who called the Aurors?" The voice said gruffly.

"Dawlish, it's a false alarm." Amelia called out.

By this point Dawlish had seen the hanging head. "I hardly think that qualifies as a false alarm, Madam Bones."

"It's a little drastic and… graphic, I'll grant you. But we have no jurisdiction, it was a goblin event held on goblin grounds." She explained.

"So we just ignore it?" Dawlish asked incredulously.

"Merlin no! We report it as a disturbance, but we can't charge anyone." She explained. "We also pray that no one else gets it in their minds to follow their footsteps." She muttered half to herself.

*Chapter 10*: Chapter 10  
A/N: Due to people pointing out that an 'Omega' wolf is usually the lowest rank, I went and researched it more and altered the explanation... that said, the new explanation won't change the rest of the story... which means you still get the remaining 36 chapters of this story each day for the next 36 days... providing I don't fall ill or lose an internet connection. Enjoy!

Draco was horrified. His father had picked him up from the station and taken him to some strange building were women and men strutted around in very little clothing. His father then took him to a private room where he was lectured on his responsibilities to produce a male heir to continue the Malfoy line.

What followed was a highly graphical description of how this was achieved. Draco was fairly disgusted.

Then it got worse.

Lucius told Draco about the letter from school. He assured him how it was absolutely fine for him to come to a place like this or somewhere very private where he could engage in experimentation and exploration with his boyfriends.

Then it got worse.

Lucius brought several strapping young men into the room and proceeded to show them as fine examples of what was available to him.

Draco spent the entire time protesting his heterosexuality.

But when Draco blanched at Lucius' offer of women instead, Lucius assumed he was just too scared to admit it. He resolved to bring Draco along when he came through the summer so he could get used to the idea.

Draco was in hell. He didn't like the idea of all that kissing and touching… especially men! He thought there were several cute girls at school, but that didn't mean he wanted to touch them… there! He definitely didn't want to do that with boys.

He couldn't wait to escape back to Hogwarts with Vin and Greg.

The holidays were a busy affair Xander, Harry and Hermione. The first two weeks were spent with Dan and Emma looking after the kids whilst they did their homework. Xander was back at the school with Joyce for the summer clean and get together with the castle ghosts, armour and paintings. The few teachers that usually stayed over the holidays were kicked out and very disgruntled. But as Joyce pointed out, it only happened every hundred years or so. Sometimes more if she was awake. They were compensated by an all expenses paid trip to a destination of their choice by Joyce.

Minerva was also kicked out, but Xander was glad as he felt she should spend plenty of time with Harry outside of school.

Whilst Minerva was with the Grangers and Harry, she found it very difficult to get to grips with living without magic. Hermione and Harry both received warnings from the Ministry and Minerva had to respond for them and get them cancelled as it was actually her fault.

Those first two weeks were also spent decorating the new house for Xander and Harry. Minerva was moved to tears when she was told she had her own room and it was her house as well.

Xander was not, however, spending most of his time partying and telling stories on Joyce. Although everyone did hear a new side to the love spell incident that she had apparently failed to share. Not to mention her various unwitting slips into the underworld of Sunnydale.

No, Xander discovered that the only other occupant of the castle who was not evicted for the two weeks was Argus Filch. The squib was apparently one of the few humans to have heard of the parties and been invited by the ghosts.

Xander and Argus worked together on clearing some of the secret passageways that had caved in and other areas that required maintenance. Secret passageways had their purpose. Usually for an escape.

"I don't get it Argus. Your always so grumpy around the kids, but you're fine now. You really hate them that much?" Xander asked.

Argus snorted in amusement. "'Course not! But I 'appen to know that I will never 'ave their respect. The Bloody Baron taught me to command their fear instead. Similar results, just not as much fun… for them. The paintings and ghosts love it though." He chuckled. "They also provide me with plenty of new threats."

Xander was suitably impressed. "Why not reveal your… more attractive side to students who can prove themselves?" Xander asked. Argus seemed to improve his hygiene for the summer as well. His hair was no longer lank and greasy and his clothes were clean and well cared for. Mrs. Norris was bounding around like a kitten, although she was still a little uneasy with Xander… it wasn't really his fault he was a dog.

"Ain't a many who do prove 'emselves." He growled slightly. "An' there's always the risk they'll blow m' cover."

"Well, the three I tutor are pretty good. Give them a year or so and they'll be able to keep your cover and be worth your time." Xander assured him.

Argus shrugged. "I'll think on it." He said uncommitted.

Harry and Hermione popped in a few times. Where Harry went, Hermione followed and Joyce was very much wanting to show off her two sons. Minerva was also allowed to attend at those times.

Although not allowed in the castle proper, Hagrid was still on the grounds. That was where his house was after all. Harry and Hermione would always visit Hagrid, Fluffy, Fang and Norbert.

As always, Harry and Norbert would sit there hissing at each other. One day, Harry came bursting into the castle to get Joyce, Xander and Minerva.

"Norbert can talk!" He cried excitedly as he didn't bother waiting to see if they followed but ran back out again.

"You think he might have forgotten he can teleport?" Xander quipped.

"At least he's not going to get fat and lazy." Joyce grinned.

"Nah, I'm starting the three of them on physical training this year." Xander said with a maniacal cackle.

The three of them were teleported out by Xander, who had decided that during the holiday he would be teaching Minerva how to do the same.

Harry was a little bewildered when he reached the hut and found the three adults waiting for him… he soon turned bright red as he realized what he forgot.

"So Norbert can talk?" Xander prompted.

"Oh… Yeah! But it's like… baby talk. Short words and sentences." Harry said gesturing with excitement.

Hermione, however, was frowning. "But I can't hear him."

Harry clearly didn't appreciate the implication. "I'm not lying!" He said with a small amount of anger.

Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I didn't say you were! But couldn't it all be in your head?"

Before Harry could explode, Joyce stepped in. "Hermione, you should be very careful about making accusations like that. In the magical world, there are many things that only some people can see. Your parents can't see the ghosts after all."

"But they're not magical!" She protested.

"Wha' abou' Thestrals?" Hagrid asked. "Can on'y see them if ya seen someone die."

Hermione was about to try and argue that one… when she realized she didn't have an argument.

"Harry, can you talk to Norbert and give us a translation?" Xander asked.

Harry nodded and turned to Norbert… then paused… then turned back to Xander. "What should I ask him?"

"Ask 'im what meat 'e wants for 'is dinner." Hagrid suggested.

Harry nodded at his large friend and then turned and started hissing at Norbert. Who responded with a few growls and hisses of his own.

"I think he wants chicken." Harry said with a frown.

"You think?" Minerva asked.

"He doesn't know the word 'chicken', he called it the 'noisy ground bird'." Harry explained.

"Ah." Xander said in understanding.

"OF COURSE!" Joyce shouted startling the whole bunch of witches, wizards, half-giants, dragons and canines. "Harry's a Parselmouth!"

Whilst Minerva and Hermione were gasping in realization. Harry, Hagrid and Xander had no idea.

"Does this mean he can speak and presents will be delivered?" Xander asked with a hint of childlike hope.

Hermione just glared. "It means he can talk to snakes."

"And dragons apparently." Minerva added.

"But the books-"

Hermione was interrupted by Xander clearing his throat loudly and making frantic cut off gestures with his hand in front of his throat.

Hermione just closed her mouth and blushed.

"Salazar was a Parselmouth. He had dragons help build the castle. He was always out talking to the various reptiles in the forest. He said he had trouble with amphibians. He knew they were talking, but couldn't understand them, as if they were speaking a foreign language." Joyce explained.

"I thought all wizards could speak to snakes?" Harry said in confusion.

"You've done it before?" Xander asked.

"No one would look after me so they had to bring me to the zoo on Dudley's birthday. I was talking to a snake there." It was obvious from Harry's demeanour that he was not telling the story of everything that happened there. But they all knew it was probably bad stuff to do with the Dursleys. Minerva or Joyce would ask him privately later.

"I suppose Harry should come back every few days and talk to Norbert, that way Norbert will learn to speak properly, especially as there are no other dragons around." Joyce advised.

And so a new activity was added to Harry's weekly schedule (which Hermione eagerly created and updated). The two weeks finished and the teachers reluctantly returned. Many sporting stunning tans that had no place in a drafty Scottish castle.

Harry and Tonks still met once a week. There wasn't much that she could teach him as it was really down to practice now, but Tonks enjoyed spending as much time as possible with the boy she considered her baby brother not to mention her favourite honorary aunt and professor, Joyce. Xander and Hermione were ok in her book too.

Bill also joined Tonks these days. He had moved into his own home near the rest of the Weasley's but visited them regularly.

Unknown to everyone but Xander, Bill had begun a campaign of pranking on the Dursley's for their treatment of Harry. Just little things like charming the water to always be cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Likewise with the heating. The windows provided no protection from the sounds of cars and airplanes, they now amplified things slightly. Fresh food would go bad within the hour and all the plants and gardens were dead.

The latest news on the court case was that it was due to begin in November. The chances of them getting off were abysmal. Xander was having the goblins use all their power to ensure that they couldn't leave the country unless they went somewhere barely habitable.

No one else knew of this and that was the way it would stay until both Xander and Bill felt Harry was over them sufficiently.

Bill brought a suggestion to Harry and Xander regarding Norbert and his speech learning.

"Harry can probably teach Norbert to talk, but what about talking to other dragons? What if Harry makes it difficult to communicate with them?" He asked one evening.

"I get your point, I suppose I could take them down to Gringotts, but it wouldn't be the nicest experience." Xander mused.

"Why don't you take them both to Charlie in Romania. He works with dragons as a handler." Bill suggested.

"How though? Neither of us has been out of the country… let alone Romania. Harry can probably transport Norbert easily, but not without knowing where he's going."

"A portkey!" Hermione said excitedly.

"Yeah… that does not sound like fun. I heard tales that it's worse than apparition." Xander grimaced.

"If you are capable of long distance travel, like you suggest, then you only need to make the one trip. Then you can return on your own power and pick up Norbert." Tonks pointed out.

"Still have to make that one trip." Xander said with distaste.

"I can't believe that the man who took down a troll single handed and decapitated the Dark Lord without a seconds hesitation is afraid of a little bumpy ride." Bill grinned mockingly.

Xander just pouted childishly.

The trip to Romania was a good learning experience. Dan and Emma tagged along as there was no way they would pass up an opportunity to see live dragons. Minerva decided to return to the school to prepare for the new school year. And to see Joyce, the two had become fast friends.

Harry was greeted enthusiastically by Charlie who had vague memories of the little baby that Bill always talked about.

"If Neville and I were together as babies, and you, Bill and Nym were there as well, where were Percy and Ron?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well… Percy was still only two or three years old. You couldn't get him to leave dad for anything. He had a real bout of hero worship going on." Charlie chuckled. "But Ron… Ron was… he couldn't leave mum, and mum wasn't part of the Order so she kept him at home as she was pregnant with Gin."

"Wouldn't he have been a handful for a pregnant lady to cope with, wouldn't it have been easier to let Bill and Nym deal with him?" Xander asked.

"What my little brother is trying to allude to delicately… and failing… is the fact that our baby brother was still… feeding." Bill said with a grin. "Nursing?" He tried, seeing they still weren't getting it?

"You mean to tell me that a near year and a half old kid was still breast feeding?" Xander asked incredulously. "In the Western world?"

Bill and Charlie just nodded as they tried not to laugh.

"I wonder if that explains his eating habits." Hermione mused.

Harry was a huge hit with the dragons and the dragon handlers. Harry found himself acting as a bit of a waiter as the dragons kept making food requests. He learnt the most from dragons though. Including the fact that Norbert was actually a 'Norberta'. Harry was given a book on dragons and a copy for Hagrid as well… just in case.

It seemed that he had no trouble understanding any of the adult dragons but the hatchlings would simply hiss and growl playfully. According to the dragons, their memories were hereditary. They knew what their parents knew and so would Norbert as he got older. Hermione and Xander explained later that it was also known as genetic memory to non-magical humans.

During the last week of the summer holidays, Bill invited Xander, Harry and the Grangers to the Burrow so they could have a mini-quidditch game and meet the rest of his family.

So on a bright summer Monday morning, Harry went with Bill for a quick trip to the Burrow so he could pop back and bring everyone else. Mainly because Xander whined about being forced to apparate again.

Ron seemed to have developed a very smarmy attitude. He was making every effort to be chummy and knowledgeable. It was making even the very officious Percy ill.

Ginny Weasley was like a fleeting ghost of red. She would be spotted spying on Xander and Harry and then would scurry away with a squeak when spotted. According to the twins, Ginny had grown up with a bit of hero-worship for the boy who lived.

"Just because I survived a killing curse as a baby?" Harry asked unsurely. "Wouldn't that make me a tragic victim?"

"You don't know?" Fred asked.

"Know what?"

"He doesn't know!" Fred declared in horror.

"Perhaps we should actually tell him?" George suggested.

"We could… or we could just let him find out on his own." Fred grinned evilly.

"You do remember his dad is Xander, right? The wizard who took out a troll with a sword and axe and removed the Dark Tosser's head with the same sword?"

Fred paled slightly. "Right." He turned to Harry. "People have been writing books and articles about you and your family ever since that night. Which, doesn't sound very unusual. But…"

"People wrote stories about it too."

"Hey! I was telling it." Fred scowled.

"Now is not the time for your dramatic pauses." George admonished. "Now get on with it."

Fred huffed and picked up. "You aren't just the hero of the wizarding world like Dumbledore is for defeating Grindlewald, you are a childhood hero. All the children raised around and after that night were told these various tales as bedtime stories. You're a legend."

"There's a whole section in Flourish and Blotts dedicated to you… two sections actually. Fiction and Non-Fiction." George added.

Harry was sceptical. "Two whole sections on how I survived a killing curse?"

"Well the non-fiction stuff is the boring old geezers rattling on about how you might have survived and your history and biography, the-"

"I was one and a half… how much of a biography could there be?" Harry interrupted.

"No idea, but it seems to sell." Fred shrugged.

George continued. "The fiction section is full of your… fictional and heroic adventures, like… meeting Merlin and learning all he knew. Meeting the founders of Hogwarts. Defeating dragons, dark lords, vampires, werewolves… you name it and apparently you've done it."

Harry just stood there with his mouth open in shock and horror.

Fred looked a little uncomfortable and wondered if they might have broken the boy who lived.

"Harry?" He gave him a little nudge.

"Bu-bu-bu-"

"But that's not the end of the picture." George interrupted Harry's stuttering. "Every student at Hogwarts grew up on those stories. That's why everyone watches you. They want to see what you'll do."

"BUT I'M JUST A KID!" Harry screeched.

This had the effect of bringing Xander running out of the house to discover what was making his son screech.

"What do I need to kill?" He asked.

Harry was fuming, far to angry to formulate a verbal response beyond growling.

George explained the problem. "We were just explaining just how big a celebrity Harry is. The books, the children's adventure stories."

"We're trying to explain the problem with Ginny." Fred added.

"Ah, so Ginny's a fangirl and that's why she runs like a skittish kitten when Harry spots her?"

Fred and George shared an uncomfortable look.

"Well-" Fred began.

"Partly."

"There's more." He continued. "You see, what's a hero without a… fair maiden?"

"Who he rescues."

"From the dragons."

"And marries."

"Rules the kingdom with."

"Raises their many children…"

"In a castle-"

"Named Hogwarts."

Harry let out an inarticulate scream of rage, confusion, distress and many, many other bad emotions.

Xander just chuckled as the twins winced. "It could be worse."

"How could it possibly be worse!" Harry hissed.

"She could be all over you, touching you and trying to make out with you."

Harry cringed and turned a slight shade of green. How could boys and girls do that? He'd seen the older students kissing and hugging. He was getting more used to hugs as Joyce, Minerva, Emma and Hermione all hugged him. Even Xander gave him what Dan called a 'manly squeeze'. But kissing… looked… eugh!

"Actually…" Fred said hesitantly.

"It is worse." George finished.

"Ginny has the same crush on a certain Troll killer."

"Who defeated the dark lord."

"Saved her hero."

"And is the lord of the castle."

To the surprise of the three boys, Xander just chuckled.

"This is not funny!" Harry exclaimed. "She-she-she… this is wrong!"

"It's nothing new Harry. I worked with teenage girls for a year or more. In fact, I'm fairly certain that Joyce broke a few hearts when she pulled me into this reality." Xander said sympathetically.

"But what do we do about it?" Harry pleadingly asked. "I don't want girls following me around and looking at me like… that!"

"Can't do much about the general female population, unfortunately. But we can work on Ginny. There are two ways to deal with this. One, we can become utter slobs and completely undesirable. We make ourselves appear to be the complete opposite of whatever stories she has heard.

"Not the best option as it can really screw with our reputations and we might need that down the line.

"Two, we personally include her in activities with Hermione and ourselves. Maybe even get Neville. That way she can see that we are just a couple of normal… guys. Hopefully she can learn from Hermione and Neville how to treat us like friends."

"Can we do something about the books, though? I already have ten or so years of children believing the lies, can we prevent the next ten from thinking I slayed dragons and rescued… maidens?" He said with disgust.

"Sure, leave it to your old man." Xander grinned.

Harry just stared at him.

"Me! Leave it to me!" Xander said exasperatedly.

Unfortunately for Harry and Xander, there was no regulation of the press in the magical world. People were allowed to print what they wanted. The only exception was that they could be challenged by the subject of their work in a duel if the subject felt they had been slighted in someway. And that could mean anything from not receiving a cut of the profits to not receiving permission.

The magical world seemed to decide matters between two parties by negotiation… usually aggressive negotiation.

Xander started with the bookstores. They were selling this stuff so they were party. No one wanted to challenge the man who defeated Voldemort with a sword so sales came to a screeching halt.

Next he went to the publishers where he demanded they cease all printing and distribution, hand over the names and details of the authors and pay Harry a substantial share of the profits from their own coffers.

Finally he handled the authors. A bunch of old men and women who eagerly capitulated in fear of the angry Lord Hogwarts. The Daily Prophet posted apologies from the authors to Harry for two weeks. They also paid substantial shares to Harry.

When Harry heard he had received several million galleons as a result of Xander's 'negotiations', he had simply shrugged and asked Xander to give it to the orphans like him.

Xander was unsurprised by Harry's blasé response to the huge amounts of money. Minerva and Joyce were very proud.

Unfortunately for Harry and Xander, there were no magical orphanages and Xander didn't trust the Ministry of Magic.

Xander decided to take a more proactive route. He wrangled some of the house elves and had them deliver food and clothing to the orphans around the country. He then ordered the goblins to begin finding suitable housing for an orphanage. With all the money Harry was going to get from these freeloading authors and publishers, he had more than enough.

Xander's favourite person to talk to in the Weasley house was Arthur. He had such childlike interest and understanding of non-magical concepts. His life long dream was to learn how 'air-o-planes' worked.

For Xander, step one was getting him to pronounce 'airplanes' properly.

"You know those memos you have flying around the building at the ministry?" Xander asked the red-headed patriarch as they sat with Dan in the Weasley kitchen.

"Of course. A simple spell folds the paper and another sends it on it's way."

"Non-magicals have their own version." Xander conjured a piece of A4 paper and began folding. "Ok, here we have a paper airplane. This is what happens when I throw it." With that he let the paper soar out the kitchen window where it went a good few feet.

"And mu- non-magicals make their airplanes fly by throwing them?" Arthur asked sceptically.

"Nope, that was just to show you how it stays in the air. Getting off the ground requires a lot of power. Several engines, each far more powerful than the Hogwarts train." Xander explained.

"Why would you need several engines to move something so small?" Arthur asked.

Xander cocked an eyebrow. "To clarify, where have you seen an airplane?"

"In the sky, the tiny little birds. I'm told they have magic that fits hundreds of people into them."

By this time Dan had cracked up and was pounding the table in hysterics.

Xander stood up and called the kids to him. Twenty minutes later had them at Heathrow airport. Hermione had questioned Xander's sanity about taking purebloods into a muggle heavy zone, but as Xander pointed out, non-magicals were so varied at international airports that they would be viewed as… foreigners.

Molly was not pleased when Harry brought them home that night as Arthur was nowhere near coherent as he waxed poetical about the small villages that muggles made fly in the sky. She sent Xander off to Madam Pomphrey for a calming draught.


	3. Chapter 11 - Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The spirit of Hogwarts believes that Harry has suffered enough in his eleven years of life and calls in a protector to guide and care for him. Not slash, rating for violence in later chapters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a Repost all words belong to mjimeyg

*Chapter 11*: Chapter 11  
A/N: People have been asking about pairings... I won't mention them here but more details about my stories are available on my profile.

The Thursday of that week with the Weasleys, all three families headed to Diagon Alley to pick up their school supplies. Ginny was both nervous and excited, it being her first year. Harry needed new robes, the young boy was growing steadily.

The final stop of the day was Flourish and Blotts. Both Dan, Xander and Harry had suggested going there last as the only way Hermione would leave was when the store closed… and even then she was likely to bite shopkeepers arm off. They were of course careful not to say this within earshot of the rabid bookworm.

The line in the shop actually extended outside the shop. There were signs and posters of a blonde haired man with a smile that actually sparkled, displayed all around the windows and declaring that he was signing books inside.

"This is wonderful! His books are on the reading list for Defence Against the Dark Arts this year!" Hermione squealed.

"Yeah? Lemme see." Xander said as he grabbed the list from Harry. He quickly scanned the list. "That's sounds like a lot of books for one class. Give me a minute, wait here." He said before vanishing.

"I hope the store doesn't close before I can get him to sign my books." Hermione said dreamily. Ginny and Molly were right there with her.

"I'll admit he is… dashing and handsome, but doesn't he seem a bit… cheesy?" Emma asked.

The men were nodding slowly as they eyed the moving posters with varying degrees of apprehension.

"Maybe he can teach us how to be real heroes." Ron said trying to adopt an adult demeanour and an air of wisdom. He failed and looked like something nasty just got up his nose.

"I just want to be able to defend myself from Voldemort. I hope that doesn't include things like this." Harry said indicating the huge crowd that was stuffed inside the shop.

"Ok, I need to have a word with the shopkeepers. He is not authorized to put all his own books on the reading list, even if he is the new professor." Xander declared as he popped in.

"Minerva hired him?" Emma asked disbelievingly.

"Nah… Albus did. But there's nothing to say he's not qualified so we have no reason to veto the appointment." Xander admitted. "He's pushing it though with the book list. He could bankrupt families like this." Xander scowled. "Right. Harry and I will go in and get the books, you lot can get in line if you want them signed. Do you still want all those books?" He asked the kids.

"Not for Hermione." Dan said firmly. He was gifted with an absolute look of betrayal from his daughter. "It's far to expensive." He told her. She turned on the puppy dog eyes. "You can buy them yourself when they go down in price." The eyes filled with tears.

Xander just chuckled as Dan tried not to cave. "Lay off your old man, 'Mione. I'll be making sure there are plenty of copies in the library."

Hermione sighed but relented.

"We'll just take the bare essentials, thank you Xander." Molly said with a smile as she handed her money bag over.

"No worries Molly, Bill can get me later." He assured her.

Molly frowned but slowly withdrew the bag. She'd make sure Bill repaid him later.

"Why are you taking Harry in?" Ginny asked.

"I need to slip and see the manager and speak to this Lockhart guy, Harry can slip in quick and teleport back out." Xander explained.

"Why don't I go with him?" Hermione offered.

"You go in and we'll not be getting you out unless there's a fire… and even then it's unlikely." Xander told her with a smirk. "Besides, if I go in, you can hold a place in the line to get them signed."

Xander's reasoning saved him from the verbal haranguing Hermione was about to give him.

"Come along, don't want to be stuck on the end." Hermione said primly as she grabbed Emma's hand and dragged her off.

Xander and Harry chuckled before they headed in.

Xander headed straight for the counter to find the owner whilst Harry grabbed a magical basket designed to hold more than it should and never weigh more than the actual basket. He then headed off to get the non-DADA books as they would be harder to find and he realized that Xander hadn't actually told him which books they needed for DADA.

Having picked up all the books, including a few he thought Ginny might like and find useful in her first year, he headed for the counter where Xander was speaking to the owner.

He didn't get far before Lockhart spotted him and Harry found himself being dragged back by the collar by Lockhart dropping the basket and spilling the books in the process.

"Hey!" Harry squawked.

"Nice big smile Harry, together, you and I make the front page." Lockhart murmured through a smile as the photographer started snapping.

"Get off me!" Harry said angrily as he struggled to break free, Lockhart had a surprisingly strong grip.

Lockhart ignored him. "Ladies and gentlemen!

"What an extraordinary moment this is!

"When young Harry here, stepped into Flourish and Blotts to purchase my autobiography, Magical Me – which, incidentally is celebrating its twenty-seventh week atop the Daily Prophet's Bestseller List – he had no idea that he would, in fact, be leaving with my entire collected works!

"Free of charge!"

Whilst Lockhart was charming the crowd Harry was desperately trying to get free of the seemingly foppish man's grip. He was damned strong.

Whilst the crowd was applauding Lockhart's apparent generosity, Harry gave up struggling and called in back up.

"Xander!"

Xander, even being away from Harry, had his werewolf ears attuned for his voice in case of trouble. He hadn't wanted to smother Harry and make him a prisoner and this seemed like the perfect opportunity for him to do a simple task.

The only thing Xander would ever consider simple in his life again, was his intelligence. Combined with Harry the pair of them were a disaster of an adventure waiting to happen. He heard Harry's annoyed call for help and chuckled as he turned to aid his son.

Lockhart, meanwhile, was still trying to hold Harry in place whilst the photographer was snapping happily away.

The photographer was startled when someone grabbed the camera out of his hands.

"Oi! You can't do that!" He cried.

"Yeah? Well you can't take pictures of my son!" Xander snapped at the chubby little man as he ripped out the film. He turned on Lockhart. "You! Get your hands off my son!"

"Everybody knows Harry is an orphan and we are just engaging in a little publicity to appease the crowds." Lockhart said with a winning grin at the patrons. "Now, if you really are desperate for my autograph, then wait in line and maybe Harry will sign something for you."

Xander marched up to Lockhart and twisted his hand off Harry's shoulder causing the man to squeal like a pig.

"Harry, why didn't you just teleport out?" Xander asked wearily.

"This… this… this… GIT!" Harry stuttered angrily. "He made me drop all the books! I haven't paid for them yet."

Xander glared at Lockhart who was whimpering and crying as Xander queried Harry. "You do NOT mess with children. Now pick up his books." Xander snarled as he tossed Lockhart to the floor.

Xander then turned to the crowd. "Listen up people. The reading list for Hogwarts DADA classes has been revised. None of Lockhart's books are required. If Professor Lockhart" Xander's voice was dripping with disgust "wishes his students to have copies of his books, he will provide them himself!" Xander suddenly grinned. "Free of charge!"

Harry snickered.

"I say! Who do you think you are to come in here and start ordering people around! What authority do you have to alter my book lists!" Lockhart demanded indignantly.

Xander strode towards Lockhart with such a dark expression on his face that Harry was worried the blonde wuss had wet himself.

"I am Alexander Harris, Lord of Hogwarts and King of the Goblins! And if you want to keep that professorship, you had better fix that attitude! You do recall what I did to the last DADA Professor?" He added with an evil grin.

Considering that the news of Quirrell/Voldemort's demise had been front-page news and the head was still magically preserved and hanging outside Gringotts, everyone knew what Xander had done. Most of the crowd turned a little green.

Lockhart went white and Harry was now certain that the future professor had wet himself.

"Of course sir! Whatever you say sir!" Lockhart squeaked nervously, he then dropped to his knees and began scooping up Harry's books.

Xander took the books from Lockhart and led Harry off to the side.

"You pop out of here with those free books, I'll go pay for these." Xander told instructed. Harry eagerly vanished on the spot.

"You ok Harry?" Bill asked as Harry teleported outside the shop. "I was watching but couldn't get past the damned crowd." He scowled.

"Why? What happened?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"That idiot, Lockhart, manhandled Harry into a publicity shot." Bill said angrily.

"I-"

"Bet you loved that, didn't you Potter?" Interrupted the loathed Draco Malfoy. "Famous Harry Potter. Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."

"Leave him alone! He didn't want that!" Ginny said defensively. She might have thought Lockhart was dreamy, but her big brother Bill was one of her heroes, and Harry was… Harry.

"Look, Potter. You've got yourself a girlfriend!" Draco said mockingly.

"Silence Draco!" Said a refined and highly snooty man who could only be Draco's father with the long white hair and a nose that looked like some one had stuffed dragon dung up it. "Ah… Mr. Potter. I don't believe we've met."

The man began to reach out, his hand seemingly out to shake Harry's, but quickly snaked towards Harry's scar.

It was intercepted by an even quicker and larger hand.

"Forgotten your manners already, Lucius?" Bill snarled as he squeezed the mans fingers.

Lucius let out a small squeak. "I – was merely – curious." He said trying not to gasp.

Bill released the man's fingers with disgust and made a big show of wiping his hand on his robes.

This caused Ginny to titter at her brother.

"Ah, another Weasley." Lucius said snidely.

By this time Arthur had made it over. "Lucius." He greeted stiffly.

"Well, well, well… Arthur Weasley." He said with some amusement. "Busy time at the Ministry. All those raids. I hope they are paying you overtime."

Lucius reached into Ginny's cauldron and withdrew an old book, something they had picked up in a thrift store for Hermione but Ginny was carrying for her.

"Obviously not! Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of 'wizard' if they don't even pay you well for it?" He said mockingly.

"So what makes him a disgrace?" Xander growled from behind Lucius. "Compared to you?"

Lucius did an admirable job of not jumping, but the smirking Draco was not so lucky and gave an unmanly squeak.

"And you are?" Lucius asked snootily.

"Just a friend of the Weasleys and Grangers." He said simply staring hard at Lucius. This was quite unnerving with his yellow wolf eyes on display.

Lucius was unable to prevent his gulp, this caused Ginny to titter again, but Harry and Hermione were right there with her this time.

"Ah, just another reason as to how the Weasleys have fallen." Lucius said trying to maintain his ground.

"Still haven't answered my question." Xander said without moving or changing his expression. "What makes the Weasley's a disgrace?"

Lucius snorted. "They're poor, have no idea how to make or manage their assets. They breed like damned rabbits causing them to live even poorer. Arthur spends his time playing with muggle toys and when he doesn't do that he's leading raids on innocent and upstanding members of the wizarding community."

Arthur was bristling at this but Bill and Dan had a strong hand on each shoulder. They knew Xander would deal with Lucius better than they could.

"From what I saw, the Weasley's live well. They have a house full of love and productivity. If one of them should fall into trouble, there are, what… six more who will gladly stand in and support them. Who would do that for you?"

Lucius was about to answer as he scowled, but Xander interrupted. "Who would do it freely and without fear or having to be asked?"

"I have many who owe me favours." Lucius said lifting his chin proudly.

"So not the same." Xander grinned. "People who owe favours often look for the cheapest way to repay them.

"Anyway…" Xander said dismissing the topic. "You mentioned the fact that there are a lot of them… 'breed like bunnies' I think you said. Did you only want one son? Or do you have… problems?" Xander asked with a mocking sympathetic frown and a very unsubtle glance down.

Lucius bristled but the adults were fighting hard not to laugh.

"I'm sorry, maybe that was a bit too personal…" Xander said in mocking apology. "Then again, you made the first comment, so perhaps you would care to answer?"

Lucius thought he might be able to take the fake apology and pretend it was real, and avoid the topic. But then the yellow eyes man had made the second statement.

"Draco is all we need." He said confidently… despite his eyes showing something else.

"Well, a fair answer I guess." Xander conceded. "But about Arthur's 'toys'… the only things I've seen in his shed are standard non-magical tools, not toys. He is trying to understand them to better understand non-magicals."

Lucius scoffed. "Muggles are nothing more than primitive beasts who are a blight on this country. They should either be put down for their own benefit or made to serve us."

Dan, Emma and Hermione were shocked at this. They were so shocked that they couldn't even get angry.

"Yeah, and if the non-magical government heard you talking like that, they'd get pretty damned angry." Xander said simply.

"Pfft, what threat could a muggle possibly have against a true magical?" Lucius said dismissively.

"Well, I could let Dan beat the crap out of you, but let me give you all a little demonstration." Xander grinned as he pulled one of his guns out of its hiding place. "Know what this is?"

"Some muggle toy, I'm sure." Lucius said airily.

Quite a crowd had gathered having seen the famous Lucius Malfoy arguing with both Harry Potter and the man who had claimed to be his father in the shop.

Many laughed at Lucius' description of the so-called toy. Only, the non-magicals were laughing due to the fact that they knew Lucius was about to be shown a glimpse of the power of the non-magical world.

"No, this is a non-magical weapon." Xander told them. "This weapon, is capable of putting a hole through a mans head. This particular version can take out Lockhart from where I'm standing. The glass windows wouldn't slow it down." Xander said pointing it at the visible blonde fop who was still selling his books inside.

"I highly doubt that." Lucius scoffed.

"Fine, I'll prove it. Why don't you go and conjure a wooden manikin down the lane there. Bill, could you put a block of stone behind it, don't want it to go through and hit someone." Xander requested.

"Someone else can do your menial labour if you must demean yourself." Lucius said with his nose in the air.

"Fine, Bill?"

Bill just wandered off down the lane about a hundred yards and began conjuring.

When he was done, Xander took aim and fired a single shot startling everyone but the non-magicals who had wisely covered their ears.

"Ok Bill, you can bring it back so we can see." Xander called out.

It was a very pale Bill Weasley that carried the wooden dummy back. There was a straight whole going from front to back right between where the eyes would be on a man.

Even Lucius was looking a little pale. Others in the crowd were looking a little green whilst the muggle born were snickering at the magical born.

"Non-magicals have a version that can do the same thing over a mile. They can also destroy an entire city from the sky with the touch of a button. Can magicals do that?" Xander asked. He didn't bother letting the man answer. "Non-magicals can travel to the moon and beyond, tell me, when was the last time a magical did that?" He asked a little mockingly.

Lucius decided that silence was the better part of valour at this point and kept his pureblood gob shut.

"So, yeah. If Arthur Weasley wants to learn more about non-magicals, then maybe that's demeaning to you. The fact is that, between your attitude and his, Arthur will still be here if a war breaks out… you, on the other hand, will be lucky to have left a stain on the rug."

At this point, the non-magical born were outright laughing at Lucius. Lucius was quietly fuming, but had no counter argument. He composed himself and then smiled politely.

"I don't believe we've been introduced." He said politely offering his hand.

Xander just looked at the hand as though it was covered in shit.

"You really aren't worth my time, and I so don't see that being changed any time soon." Xander said as he turned to Harry. "Come on, I've had enough of this guy. Let's finish up and get out of here."

Lucius bristled at this snub. "I say! You would do well to show some respect and manners to your betters boy!" Lucius said in outrage as he drew his wand pointing it at Xander's back.

Xander heard the gasps from the crowd and knew things were heading down the crap hole at mach five. He teleported behind Lucius.

Lucius Malfoy was shocked to find his target gone with out a sound. He lost control of his bladder when he noticed the cold hard steel pressed against his throat.

"A very stupid and cowardly move, Malfoy." Xander snarled. "Yes, I know who you are. I know your history. If I find that you have raised a finger against my family and friends, you will meet the same fate as your master."

Xander looked to Harry. "Take them all home, Harry."

There were gasps of amazement as the Weasleys and Grangers vanished on the spot.

"Remember my warning Lucius." Xander whispered as he vanished causing the pale haired man to fall to the floor.

"Father!" Draco cried as he came running to his father's aid, only to stop short as Lucius held up a hand, halting his progress.

Lucius slowly stood and rearranged his robes. He was meticulous. He then gestured to his son to join him and they vanished with a loud crack.

Xander appeared back at the Burrow to find the others removing their coats.

"For the record: Voldie starts another war… Lucius dies first." Xander said angrily.

"You're going to kill him?" Hermione asked in horror.

"Well… yeah. It'll be war, best thing to do in war is kill the enemy before they kill you." Xander explained.

Harry took the pile of Lockhart's books over to Hermione. "Here, you can have these. Lockhart tried to give them to me for free. I think he was playing the crowd though."

Hermione squealed happily before kissing Harry on the cheek and taking the books. Harry began to blush.

"Harry, where are the first year books?" Molly asked.

"I only got the ones I don't have myself. I figured Ginny might like my copies, especially if I sign them. Maybe she can sell them one day." Harry shrugged.

At this point Ginny squealed and kissed his cheek.

Harry was left looking like he could put tomatoes out of business.

"I thought you didn't like using you fame?" Percy asked.

"I don't. I hate everybody recognizing me and using me… like Lockhart. But Xander says that if I have to be famous, I should use it to do some good. And this will make Ginny happy." Harry explained.

The night before they were due to head to Hogwarts, Harry had a very strange visit which he reported to Xander.

"So this little guy, Dobby. About the size of a goblin, big ears, big nose?" Xander asked.

Harry nodded. "He also spoke English worse than Norbert."

Xander chuckled. "Sounds like a House Elf. Didn't have them in my reality, there are a ton of them at Hogwarts, very good at staying invisible though."

"What should we do though? He says there will be danger at Hogwarts and he was very insistent that I stay away." Harry said with a little bit of worry.

"Doesn't matter where we go, Harry. Trouble will always find us. It's the nature of our lives." Xander said wistfully. "We can't keep running. The best thing we can do is stand and fight. Besides, this Dobby, said the danger is at Hogwarts, this means, if we don't go, no one will be there to deal with it."

Harry nodded in understanding. He wouldn't feel right if he let other people suffer and he could stop it.

The trip on the train to Hogwarts was a quiet affair. Harry and Hermione were both looking forward to seeing Joyce and Minerva and being back in their apartment. It had become like a second home to them.

Well, to Harry it was his first home.

They met up with Neville at the station and grabbed the last compartment for Xander. Ginny went off to find a friend of hers whilst the rest of the Weasley clan went their separate ways.

About an hour into the journey, Hermione noticed something odd.

"Why are we stopping?" She asked.

"Why does it sound like the train is getting further away?" Neville added.

"Why don't we stop asking and find out?" Harry said with a grin.

Xander was currently on patrol in the other carriages. They seemed to have the entire rear carriage to themselves.

The trio headed out of their compartment and towards the front of the carriage. When they got to the interconnecting door, they discovered something… unsettling.

"Harry… where's the rest of the train?" Neville asked nervously.

"Erm… I think that's it in the distance." Harry said pointing to the puff of smoke heading behind some hills.

"What are we going to do?" Hermione asked frantically. "We- we'll be late! What if they won't let us in because we didn't arrive with the others… what if no one ever finds us!"

"Hermione! Breathe!" Harry ordered grabbing her by the shoulders.

Neville was just chuckling at Hermione's over reacting.

"It's not funny Neville!" Hermione pouted.

"The situation? No. Your reaction? Definitely." He smirked. "Xander owns the school. Do you really think he would kick his own son out just because there was an accident with the train?"

"I suppose." Hermione groused.

"Glad to see you think so highly of me 'Mione." Xander grinned as he appeared.

Hermione just stuck her tongue out at him.

"So, not even through the school gates and you're in trouble?" Xander teased Harry.

"Not my fault!" Harry said with a grin.

"If I had to go out on a limb… I'd say, Dobby." Xander mused.

"That's all well and good, but how are we going to get to school?" Hermione asked.

"You have got to get over your obsession with school." Xander said wearily. "Besides, you are a witch, Miss Granger. Try thinking like one!"

Hermione looked suitably abashed.

"Ok, we can't just leave the carriage here. Harry, for now I want you to teleport the whole carriage to the Hogwarts grounds. Just drop it by the gates for now. We'll put it on the tracks later." Xander instructed. "Once you are there, get your gear and head into the castle and let Joyce and Minerva know the situation."

Harry just nodded.

"You really think he can move the whole carriage?" Hermione asked with a small amount of awe.

"Hermione, I think Harry could move the whole damned train." Xander grinned before he vanished.

"Could you really move the whole train?" Hermione asked Harry quietly.

Harry just shrugged. "If Xander says I can, then, probably. But knowing Xander… he probably thinks I can move the whole school." Harry grinned.

"I doubt that!" Hermione scoffed.

Harry looked hurt at that. Neville was disappointed at her too.

"Prove it." Neville challenged.

"No, Neville, he shouldn't. It could be dangerous." Hermione said, her eyes never leaving Harry.

"No, Hermione. You prove that Harry can't move the school." Neville said with a slight frown of disappointment.

"Bu-bu-bu-but I can't! I wouldn't know how!" She stammered.

"Then until you can, I suggest you stop doubting Harry and Xander. They have never lied to you or me. Personally, I was insulted by what you said." Neville said with just a hint of anger.

"I-I-I-"

"Just think about what you said, and then come back. For now, maybe you should take us home Harry." Neville said firmly.

Harry just sighed. He was… not pleased, but grateful for Neville sticking up for him. But it would cause tension, even though it was not Neville's fault.

Harry didn't move and the only sign that he had done something was the change of scenery beyond the windows.

"Maybe you could go and let Joyce or Professor McGonagall know what happened. Harry and I will take our stuff to your apartment." Neville suggested.

It was a suggestion that Hermione recognized as one she should follow. She silently vanished from the carriage, leaving the two boys alone.

"You ok Harry?" Neville asked quietly.

Harry was standing with his back to Neville, his head down. But Neville noticed the wet splashes on the floor.

Harry was crying silently.

"I thought having friends was supposed to be fun. I thought they were supposed to care about you." Harry said with a sniff. Neither boy moved though.

Neville, being a pureblood and raised alone by his grandmother, had experienced his first friends at Hogwarts. He understood what Harry meant. Hermione would have had some friends or acquaintances at her muggle primary schools. She would have had some experience. But Neville and Harry had been denied that for different reasons.

Neville was thinking very hard. He needed help and he hoped the person he was focusing on would hear his silent pleas for help. He simply had no help for Harry.

"Very good Neville." Came a voice that was pure relief for Neville. Joyce had heard him.

Joyce looked at the hunched and now shaking shoulders of the young boy who was her son. "Come here Harry." She said as she turned him into her and seamlessly transported the three of them to the apartment living room.

She sat with Harry on the sofa, as Neville took one of the armchairs.

"Everyone has disagreements. You will disagree and argue with me, Xander and Minerva. I will disagree with Xander, Minerva, you. It's because we all have different opinions, different views on life.

"Minerva is dealing with Hermione. She's very upset but she knows she hurt you."

"Hermione's upset?" Harry said anxiously as he rose to try and go to her.

"Easy Harry, Minerva is with her and we are going to talk about you. And maybe this will help Neville too." Joyce assured him.

"Hermione has a tendency to question everything and only believe what the books tell her. She also tends to take things very literally. She doesn't always get that we are joking when we suggest things.

"Neville was right to call and correct her on what she said. It's the only way she will learn. If she doesn't, then she will be something of an outcast when she gets older.

"The important thing to remember, is that she still loves you both. She is still your best friend, even if she does hurt you at times by not being considerate."

Joyce gestured Neville over and pulled both boys into a hug. "Friendship is very important. Xander can tell you a lot about that. There were several times when he screwed up, there were times when his friends screwed up and basically betrayed him. Xander even threatened to kill one of his friends because they endangered his other friends. But at the end of it, they all came out as friends. They forgave each other or moved on."

Harry cried some more, eventually falling asleep in Joyce's arms. Leaving just Neville and herself. She teleported Harry to bed and turned to Neville.

"You ok Nev?" She asked kindly.

"I'll be better when Harry is and Hermione makes it right." Neville said wiping his eyes. It had been a stressful hour or so. "I had better go and get our stuff. Did Hermione tell you about the carriage?"

"She did, I was with Minerva at the time." She said with a smile. "You go and do that, I'll go and check in with Minerva and Hermione." She said giving him one last hug before vanishing.

Neville decided to deal with his own luggage first. He wanted to give Harry some time, and he needed some as well. Instead of taking Harry and Hermione's luggage to their rooms, he decided to try something new. Xander was always breaking known magical rules, so he figured he would give it a shot.

Instead of focusing his magic on himself and the items, he focused it solely on the items and watched as they vanished. He had heard how Joyce had sent Dumbledore out of the school, so it was clearly possible, plus Harry had sent Draco and his sidekicks away. He popped after them to make sure they had arrived and then headed off to find Professor Sprout. He wanted to see if he could get into the greenhouses.

Being unable to find the professor, Neville found Professor McGonagall and got permission to join Xander on the train and let him know how things went. Xander was upset about the conflict and sadness, but was exceptionally proud of Neville's breakthroughs.

When they arrived back at the castle, Neville teleported back to the apartment to find Harry and Hermione and make sure they were ok and get them down to the feast.

He found the pair of them snuggled up together on the living room couch snoozing.

When Neville gently woke the pair, they engaged in a mass of apologies and blushing at being found together. Neville found it… amusing. He couldn't wait to tell Xander.

Hermione also apologized to Neville for her behaviour. He accepted it with a smile and a hug and all was forgiven.

The sorting was quickly dealt with. Ginny Weasley was the only student that had the groups attention as Bill and Arthur had asked them to keep an eye on her. Understandable, all things considered. But she seemed happy enough to mix with her own peers.

The staff table was about ready to erupt in violence. Gilderoy Lockhart was currently trying to regale both Joyce and Nicholas Flamel with his stories of daring do. Joyce was getting more and more irritated as the man seemed to be an incessant flirt… and kept touching her!

Nicholas looked like he wanted to rip out his own heart to end his suffering. He settled for glaring at Albus for appointing the ponce.

After the feast and when everyone was heading for bed, Harry and Hermione headed back to the apartment. They had only been back a few minutes, Xander was having a 'Joyce Summers Hot Chocolate' with his favourite ladies and son and someone was knocking on the door.

"Neville… why are you knocking?" Joyce asked curiously.

"Sorry Joyce, but someone has taken all my things… and my bed." He said bewilderedly.

Joyce had a guilty look on her face. "Nobody told you? I guess I must have forgotten."

"Am I being expelled?" Neville asked worriedly.

"No!" Joyce exclaimed. She then continued softly with a smile. "Neville, you have a room here. It seemed wrong to keep you away from your friends." She said as she led the stunned young man to a newly formed door. "Xander and I discussed this and we want you to stay here, closer to Harry and Hermione during the school year."

There was an impromptu celebration held by the three children, but food was avoided as the feast was just about all they could manage.

*Chapter 12*: Chapter 12  
A/N: WARNING: This chapter deals with the subject of rape. That said, it doesn't happen but it is nearly attempted... but I didn't invent those wards for the over amorous just for them to be defeated by students. Rape is introduced in this story to deal with how magicals could deal with it. I just wanted to give fair warning to anyone reading so they don't get caught out.

The start of term went off fairly quietly. Classes were easy to keep up with. The homework was not.

Harry was called on a few times to help show Norbert to the Care of Magical Creatures classes.

Lockhart however was able to cause issues in class and out of class.

At the staff table, he had now been placed next to Albus. The rest of the staff was more than willing let Albus suffer in their place. It was his fault he was there after all.

Albus was allowed a small reprieve though, on Lockhart's other side was Xander. Lockhart still remembered his humiliation by the wolf-eyed Lord in the bookstore. One glare or growl from him and he was not only smart enough to shut his trap but usually he would abandon his meal and flee the hall. He did it with style and only a few people knew what was happening.

This didn't, however, stop him from causing mayhem with the other professors. On the very first day just as Harry's first Herbology lesson was about to start, Lockhart was following Professor Sprout out of the greenhouse and lecturing her on Herbology. The professor clearly was not happy.

At the same time Hagrid and Xander were approaching the greenhouse. They were spotted by Lockhart.

"Ah! Hagrid my good man! I hear you are having a bit of bother with some flesh-eating slugs! I am more than happy to explain the correct way to deal with the blighters!" He declared boastfully.

Hagrid looked fairly insulted. Harry and Pomona Sprout looked like they wanted to rip Lockhart's arms off for the insult on Hagrid's behalf.

Xander, however, didn't believe a word the man said, but decided it was time to make an example of him. "Sounds like a great idea." He said happily. "Flesh eating slugs must be a menace to plant life everywhere. We have this apparent expert willing to demonstrate and teach. And we have these students eager to learn and be taught.

"So why don't we move your class to the location of Hagrid's slug menace and watch Professor Lockhart show us how it's done?"

Xander had just been shown the slugs by Hagrid. They were about a foot long and apparently had suckers that emitted a corrosive acid that allowed them to consume large animals. They were also not as slow as their non-magical, non-flesh-eating counterparts.

Pomona caught the idea and ran with it. "An absolutely smashing idea Professor Harris, and if he manages to finish with time, he can finish the lesson by completing the lecture he was just giving me on mandrakes with a demonstration."

What followed was both horrific and terrifying. It ended with Poppy being called in to heal the numerous wounds that the Professor had gained. Most of these were due to his hysterical panicking as he ran in circles to escape the slugs. The injuries came from when he kept falling over. The slugs tended to ignore him.

Lockhart's lessons, were obviously, for the day were cancelled.

Harry was once again forced into the limelight at dinnertime. He was chatting with Hermione and Neville when they were blinded by a bright flash.

Harry had been known to be a little jumpy. In the last 12 months, he had dealt with trolls, psychotic brooms, dark lords, prankster twins and Xander. Harry's reflexes kicked in and a stunner flew from his hand sending a small boy sailing over the tables only to be caught by Hagrid inches above the staff table.

"I thought you weren't teaching other kids 'ow ta fly?" Hagrid asked Xander.

"I don't believe he did that himself, Hagrid." Nicholas snorted as he pointed to where Harry and his friends were trying to clear their eyes. Neville and Hermione both had their wands out.

"This stupid boy decided to use a flash camera on the Boy-Who-Lived." Joyce said with annoyance. "Harry acted on reflex and stunned him… only he didn't use a wand."

"Oh Merlin." Poppy groaned. "I suppose this will be a good test to see if anyone can wake someone up from one of Harry's wandless stunners or if it will require Harry's touch. Hagrid, you can put him down and I'll levitate him to the hospital wing."

"Sure you don't want me ta carry him?" Hagrid offered.

"Thank you, Hagrid, but you carry on. I'll soon be back."

Xander meanwhile had teleported down to the three kids.

"Nice reflexes Harry." Xander smirked.

"Xander?" Hermione asked blearily.

"Yep."

"Was it Dobby again?" Neville asked in a harsh whisper.

"Nope. Some kid with a camera. Just thought I'd let you know. You and Hermione can holster those wands." Xander informed them. "I'm going to go with Poppy and talk to this kid. The last thing you need is paparazzi." Xander said as he vanished.

"What's paparazzi?" Harry asked.

"Nosy photographers who photograph celebrities when they are looking for privacy. They go through their garbage and everything!" Hermione said with disgust.

Harry sighed. "And people think I actually like being famous."

The young flying shutterbug, aka Colin Creevey, was given a short, sharp lecture on respecting other students and their privacy. He was warned that if he was caught taking more pictures of Harry or any other student without their express permission, the camera would be confiscated and the film destroyed. Further attempts would end with him kicked out and having to beg for a place at another school in another country.

Judging by the way the boy was looking at his camera, it was clear he was overjoyed that he was thinking of the picture he already had of Harry in there. So Xander confiscated the film.

Colin got the message. Only time would tell if he learnt the lesson.

With his previous days classes cancelled, Lockhart's first ever lesson was with Harry's class the following day.

Considering the so called defeater of the Waga Waga Werewolf ran from a bunch of Cornish Pixies which, whilst mischievous, were easily dealt with by the class once Hermione had immobilized them, Harry decided to have Xander sit in on the next class as this guy may not be worth sitting through a whole year.

The next DADA lesson was slightly better. There were no creatures and no professor running in fear like a young boy being chased by a bunch of old ladies looking to pinch a little cheek.

Unfortunately for Harry, he spent the whole lesson as Lockhart's victims and conquests as them man re-enacted parts of his books.

Xander couldn't really fault the lesson for anything other than being heavy on the ham and hard on Harry. Lockhart was given a stern warning about using Harry and told to back off.

Harry was happily left alone.

Classes came and went as the days moved on. Xander started his exercise and training regime on the kids. It was for now, a very simple matter of long walks around the lake and the grounds whilst discussing various scenarios and topics. The plan was for them to start jogging around the lake after Christmas. Eventually he would have them training against each other.

Soon enough, Halloween was upon them. It was a big day for Xander, Harry, Neville, Hermione, Joyce and Minerva. The day that Xander arrived.

Harry, Hermione and Neville had decided to throw a surprise party for Xander. They had thrown one for Hermione back in September which she had loved. They had gotten a spare classroom from Joyce and permission from Minerva and gone all out on the decorations.

Having learned from Colin's mistake of surprising Harry, they decided not to jump out at Xander. They would instead walk him to the room for the surprise and hopefully avoid being eviscerated.

Instead of blindfolding him, they told him to lose the wolf eyes and gave him a second eye-patch. The sight of Professor Harris being lead around the school with two pirate eye-patches by another two professors and three students gave many a student pause.

Xander was thrilled with the party. His first ever surprise party. Joyce also realized that it was the first party she had ever attended for Xander and resolved to make it up to him. She was disappointed that her daughter and Willow had never thrown him one.

By about eight o'clock they had finished their private meal and were heading back to the apartment to relax in comfort. The adults were on their way to the great hall to deal with their usual duties and the kids were making their way own way back only for Harry to freeze.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"Can't you hear that?" He asked worriedly. "It's going to kill someone!" He cried before running off. Neville and Hermione were hot on his heels.

As they ran they tried to get Harry to explain, but he just ran faster. He came skidding to a stop in a corridor which appeared to be flooded.

It was not the flooding that made Harry stop. It was the blood message on the wall.

'The chamber of secrets has been opened.

Enemies of the heir… beware.'

"That's not red paint… is it?" Hermione asked with a hint of desperate hope.

"I doubt it… if it's blood, is it human?" Harry queried.

"Maybe we should get Xander?" Neville suggested nervously.

"We would have to be in the one place without portraits and armour." Hermione moaned.

"Oh dear." Joyce exclaimed as she suddenly appeared.

"Joyce! Where did you come from?" Hermione asked having been startled.

"Neville called me. He seems to be pretty good at keeping his head on straight in a crisis." She said as she patted his back fondly. "This is bad. The Great Hall just let out and half the students pass by here on their way to their dorms."

As she was speaking, the shadows of approaching students could be seen on the walls and their footsteps echoed in the corridor.

Despite the fact that the non-magical born were beginning to out number the magical born, graffiti was not something you saw in a castle. Or a school. Unless you happen to be an adult regressed to a teenager by mystical candy on a night of mayhem and loved heavy metal. But that was some years off. And a different reality.

Therefore, when a bunch of young children and professors, who have spent the past ten to twenty years hearing about a war or fighting said war, come across a message scrawled in red that carries a threat… nobody thinks it's written in tomato sauce.

The students and teachers came to a halt and gasped. The muttering and whispering began. That's when Filch came along.

"What's going on 'ere?" He demanded. "Oh, Lady 'Ogwarts, no dis-" And this is where he noticed something hanging from a light fixture. "Wha- Mrs. Norris? My cat! Who did this to my cat!" He began demanding.

Then Draco arrived, and of course his mouth was open and spewing the noxious gas Snyder had once accused Xander of spewing. "'Enemies of the heir beware'? You'll be next mudbloods."

"Oh very nice Malfoy." Joyce scowled. "Congratulations on earning yourself a nice week of detentions."

Malfoy closed his mouth, silently fuming.

"My cat, someone's killed my cat! Who was it? I'll kill 'em!"

"Argus!" Came Dumbledore's stern warning. "Everyone back to your dorms."

"Belay that. All professors will accompany all students to the Great Hall. Account for all students and send out search parties for those missing." Xander ordered. "I want all the students in one place."

The last thing Xander wanted was a repeat of what they did a year ago to the day by sending the students off in four directions and thinning the protections.

"NOW PEOPLE!" Xander roared. "Joyce, I want the armour guarding the entrances to the Great Hall. Nicholas, you better stay."

Joyce nodded and then simply vanished.

Xander turned to the three children. "Guys, you are three of the most powerful and flexible magic users in the school."

"You want us to hunt what did this?" Harry asked nervously.

"Hell no! I have an army of goblins at my disposal, why would I risk my son?" Xander asked incredulously. "No, I want you to head to the Great Hall. You are the last line of defence for the hall. You will hold the hall if anything happens, do not leave the hall. If you hear commotion, start doing what you can to barricade the doors. Leave the teachers to fight what is outside, your responsibility is to the other students. Are we clear?"

The three nodded.

"Get going then." They started to jog off. "Are you magical or what? Teleport!" He called after them.

"Was it really necessary to contradict my orders?" Albus asked a little peeved.

"Considering you were doing exactly what you did when the troll was here last year… hell yes." Xander said heatedly. "Now, let's figure out what's up with Argus' cat so we can work out what we're up against."

"It was definitely a curse that killed her!" Lockhart piped up. "Probably the Transmogrifian Torture curse. Encountered it myself once, in Ouagadougou. The full story's in my autobi-"

"She's not dead Argus. Merely petrified." Thankfully Albus had had enough of the annoying mans prattle.

"Precisely! So unlucky I wasn't there. I know the very counter curse that could have spared-"

"Then why are you here annoying us instead of preparing to defend the students with the other teachers?" Xander spat.

"My experience could very well prove key to discovering the key to this mystery." He defended pompously.

Unfortunately, Xander had no response to that as it was quite a logical reason. Of course, Xander doubted the man had the ability to defeat a newborn puppy, but he had no proof.

"I doubt we will be able to determine what caused Mrs. Norris' state by examining her." Albus mused. "Don't worry Argus, Professor Sprout has a healthy growth of Mandrakes that will be used to create a restorative potion."

"How long will that take?" He asked worriedly.

"At least another six months." Nicholas supplied.

"Six months!" Xander exclaimed. "Can't we import them?"

"No, they have a short lifespan and all mandrakes will be the same age at this point in time. Some will grow quicker, so we could import those, but we won't have any available for many months." He explained.

"Damn." Xander whispered. "Argus, I'm going to teleport you to the hospital wing with Mrs. Norris. Tell Poppy what happened and to stay put and lock down the infirmary until I get there."

Argus took his proffered cat from Albus and Xander sent him on his way.

Xander then turned back to the writing. "Ok, so we're dealing with a human or at least sentient being. With a weird education." He mused.

"You're thinking one of the students?" Nicholas asked.

"I'm trying to remain open minded." Xander shrugged.

"What brings you to your conclusion?" Albus enquired.

"This person can spell 'chamber', 'secrets', 'heir' and 'beware'. But as 'Chamber of Secrets' is obviously a name, they haven't capitalized it. They also used the dot, dot, dot thingy-"

"Ellipses." Nicholas supplied.

"Yeah, them. So at least a thirteen year old."

"I see."

"But that's just to establish minimum age based on this evidence. I'm not gonna make assumptions."

"Would Fang or Fluffy be of any use here?" Nicholas asked.

Xander had already been sniffing around discretely. "No, we just had half the school up here."

"You have a plan?"

"Check the building and get the kids back to their dorms."

"You have considered that the culprit could actually be locked in the Great Hall?"

"Yeah, if that's the case I intend to lock down the individual dorm rooms every night till they're found. All students will be escorted in groups as well. They might not be willing to strike again if there is more chance of them getting caught."

"What of the Chamber of Secrets?" Albus queried.

"We'll have to research. I'm more interested in the person leaving the messages and petrifying living creatures." Xander responded.

Having cleared the castle, the students were returned to their dorms. The four heads of house along with Albus, Xander and Joyce were having a meeting in the heads office to discuss what to do next. The other professors were standing watch within the common rooms of each house.

Harry, Neville and Hermione were having a meeting of their own.

"You need to tell Xander about the voices you heard." Neville stated firmly. He was quite confident amongst his two friends, but when others were involved, he tended to devolve into a timid little boy.

"But you didn't hear them." Harry objected. "I was probably just imagining things… it's Halloween… at least there isn't another troll!" Harry was practically pleading.

Hermione didn't want to cause Harry more problems, she was still wary after the incident with the Hogwarts Express. "Maybe Harry's right. If it happens again, then he should tell, otherwise… hearing voices… it's never a good thing."

Neville didn't like this. He trusted his friends, but he trusted Xander more. He knew Xander wouldn't judge them or hurt them. Xander always listened.

But Hermione had a point. "Fine. But I don't like it… and I reserve the right to say 'I told you so' later." He said with a mock pout.

The meeting in the Head's office was fairly short. No one new what or who had caused the petrifaction, but the writing on the wall indicated a sentient was involved. The most likely suspect was a student… or Lockhart as the newest and greatest unknown.

"I have trouble believing anything that man says." Joyce said with disgust.

"Now, now, Professor Summers, his records and accounts speak for themselves." Albus admonished.

"His attitude speaks louder." Nicholas retorted. "The man is a braggart and coward. And I believe my age and experience speak for themselves." He snarked at Albus.

"I believe it would behoove us to consider bringing in outside help." Albus suggested with a slight hesitation.

"I was going to contact Amelia in the morning. I'll also be bringing in some goblin consultants." Xander agreed.

"I wish to bring Severus Snap-"

"No." Xander said firmly.

"Severus is an expert in the Dark Arts. He could tell us who or what did this." Albus argued.

"Then show him your memories. There are plenty of other people who can provide the same, if not better service." Joyce countered.

Minerva, not wanting to get bogged down in an argument about the former Potions Professor, raised another point. "Joyce, can you tell us anything about this Chamber of Secrets?"

"Only the same rumours you know about. If it exists, it's not part of the actual castle as I would know about it, or it is very well hidden."

"Would Salazar Slytherin really have made a chamber to contain a creature that killed muggleborns?" Fillius asked.

"No. Absolutely not." Joyce said sternly, she then grimaced. "That is to say that he wouldn't have put a creature that killed muggleborns in the chamber… he more than likely created a chamber. He liked his little hideaways. Godric and Helga were more outdoors-y types and Rowena was a typical bookworm.

"Salazar preferred his laboratories and was always looking for somewhere quiet to work. He definitely would have created a private space for himself, but would not have done anything to endanger the school."

"Is it even possible for there to be a section of the school you don't know about?" Fillius asked.

"You have to remember that whilst magic is capable of a great many things that are beyond our comprehension… it is still wielded by humans. Those of us that built this castle were human, so the castle and myself are certainly fallible." Joyce explained. "There were reports from the portraits and armour that the chamber was opened fifty years ago, but I never noticed… but I did wake up for poor Myrtle. She didn't know what happened either."

"I don't think there is anything more we can do tonight." Xander yawned. "We will keep the security measures in place. Tomorrow I will go and see Madam Bones and the Goblins. I'm going to warn Harry that he will need to be on alert whilst I'm gone. He's the only one with enough power to actually be able to handle any situation with pure brute force."

The following day Xander was out of the castle and Harry was on edge.

The whole school was on edge, but Harry knew that he would be the one to stand between the students and whoever was behind the attack and the message.

The students were nervous, but the accompanying escorts of teachers and suits of armour, were reassuring. The paintings were on alert as well.

Lessons were stressed, but Joyce settled a lot of fears by giving an impromptu lecture at breakfast about the chamber and its mythological history.

Draco seemed to have regained a lot of his snide aloofness and was terrorizing the muggleborns and talking loudly about how the 'Mighty Slytherin would cleanse the school of their filth'. He was, unfortunately, very careful about not saying these things in front of professors.

"He is a disgusting little rodent who seems to think the sun shines out of his arse." Joyce sneered as Malfoy stormed away having just lost more points. Joyce didn't need to be physically near him to know what he was up to.

Xander popped back into the school for lunch but warned them he would be gone for most of the evening.

The trio decided to stay in the apartment that evening. Harry wanted very few distractions if he was to be alert for the castles sake. Hermione was studying away but Neville wanted to try something and needed a partner.

"So what new genius thing are you doing today?" Harry asked with a grin.

"Talking with our minds over great distances." Neville responded.

"Mind reading?" Harry frowned.

"No… erm… sending thoughts or speech… I guess."

"You mean thought projection." Hermione called out. "Xander told us about his friend Willow who did it and you keep doing to Joyce."

"Exactly." Neville said excitedly. "Xander is always telling us that we have to tell our magic what to do. We can move ourselves over distances with teleportation… so why not our thoughts?"

Harry shrugged. "Ok, what's the plan?"

Neville gave a sheepish grin. "I… don't really have one… I was going to just start with thinking at you really hard."

Hermione had started making notes on a spare piece of paper as she half listened and continued to study. She had made a lot of notes for her book of Xander magic.

Harry and Neville sat there on opposite ends of the sofa, cross-legged and staring at each other for a good ten minutes with looks of severe concentration. Hermione was hard pressed to suppress her giggles and found her mind filling with... Xander-esque jokes... She would never forgive him for corrupting her!

There was a sudden blast of a siren and red lights flashing. It looked like emergency lighting for a submarine.

"Blue light is for more than snogging... What's a red light for?" Neville asked worriedly. He had no desire to walk in on older students doing... that!

Harry didn't answer as he just ran out the door to the apartment and into the Hogwarts corridor.

"Jerry, red lights and sirens... What do they mean?"

"Sexual assault in progress or imminent." The suit armour said with anger in his voice.

"Where?" Harry demanded.

"Third floor, Fluffy's old room."

Before anyone could say anything Harry had vanished.

Luna had been having a horrible first year at Hogwarts. She had never seen the world quite as others had. She saw things others couldn't and had no way of actually proving them. Being only eleven years old, she desperately wanted to be accepted. She was always hoping to find someone who would be able to see what she saw or at least be able to help explain it.

This had led to some uncomfortable conversations with her housemates. Not wanting to be associated with some crazed and weird individual, they had quickly distanced themselves. This had led to teasing and the spiteful name of Luna 'Looney' Lovegood.

Things had escalated from there. They had begun hiding her things. Shrinking them. Cursing and hexing them.

The girls were the worst. The boys, being eager to please prospective girlfriends, were not far behind.

Luna had quietly accepted it all. She didn't like it and would cry herself to sleep, but she didn't raise a fuss.

This had led to tonight's terrifying ordeal. She had entered her dorm... that was the last thing she remembered before she woke up naked in a cold empty room with a trapdoor in the floor surrounded by several older boys who were all drooling over her shivering naked form.

Not for the first time in her life... Luna wished she had died with her mother.

She could hear the boys, who appeared to be Slytherins, arguing over her. One of them was clearly larger than the rest and dominated them. They backed down and the boy turned towards her with a smirk that chilled Luna to her bones.

The boy approached her and Luna scooted back her bare bottom scraping on the stone floor, she was too frightened to pay attention to the pain.

Luna closed her eyes and prayed to Merlin that someone would save her.

There was a sudden silence that filled the room for a mere second. Followed by a gust of wind that seemed to blow one-way and then another.

A low rumble sounded from behind the boys. Luna kept her eyes closed, she didn't want a visual memory to accompany the imminent physical memory.

Luna could hear only the sound of the rumble and the wind. The smell of the room suddenly changed to that found in a toilet. Luna remained silent with tears streaming down her cheeks from tightly shut eyes.

There were several thumps and then suddenly, the wind increased in strength and began overlapping it's directions. There was a loud hissing and snarling noise. Luna couldn't identify it beyond animal, and she still had no desire to open her eyes and find out.

Suddenly a deep growling voice filled the large room, it's pattern seemed young for such a deepness. "Miss, you can open your eyes. Your safe now."

Luna kept her eyes shut tightly. "Who - who are you?"

"Harry, Miss. Harry Potter."

Luna had heard the voice of the Boy-Who-Lived... "Harry is a boy, young like me." She argued.

The voice chuckled causing the wind to pick up again. "I am having a little problem with my body today."

Luna's fear was finally overcome by her curiosity and she peeked through squinted eyes.

Standing mere meters from her were two dragons. She instantly recognized the reddish brown Norbert who was now the size of a minibus, but the large black dragon the size of a heavy goods vehicle caused her to back up more... Unfortunately she had already hit the wall. That's when she noticed the dark emerald green lightning bolt that reached from above the dragon's right brow and stretched to the bottom left of his right eye.

"Harry?" Luna gasped.

Luna saw something that no one had ever seen... A dragon with a sheepish grin giving a sheepish wave with a front claw. It was still a slightly terrifying sight.

"I'm having a wee problem turning back into a human... So, I am going to transport us to the Hospital Wing and Norbert is going to guard these... things." Harry spat causing a slight puff of smoke to come out his nose.

Luna just nodded, then remembered. "Harry... I'm naked!"

"Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot with the whole dragon thing." Harry said apologetically. Luna was suddenly standing in the hospital wing dressed in a jeans and a t-shirt, similar to what Hermione wore.

"Thank you Harry. But you forgot my underwear." Luna smirked as she shifted uncomfortably and Harry looked like he was blushing... hard to tell on a pitch black dragon.

By this point, Poppy had been alerted that someone had entered the ward and had come to investigate.

"Ok, wha- sweet Merlin is going on?" Poppy screeched as she grabbed Luna and started backing her into her office as she aimed her wand at the extremely large dragon.

"Hi Poppy!" Harry grinned.

Poppy had spent a lot of time with Harry, she knew his mannerisms, and that scar was a dead give away.

"Harry James Potter! Have you been messing about with the animagus potion?" She screeched.

"No! Honest Poppy! I went to help... Erm..."

"Luna?" Poppy offered.

"Yeah... I guess, but when I reappeared... I was like this... dragonish."

Poppy sighed the sigh of exasperation. "You will have to wait until Minerva gets here. For now let us deal with Miss Lovegood." She said turning to the young girl.

Luna had suddenly remembered the events that brought her here began to shrink back only to find herself enveloped in a loving embrace.

Joyce held her tightly as she sank to the floor with Luna in her lap as the young girl cried out her fear and anguish.

Harry curled into himself resting his large head on his forearms. Poppy approached the young dragon/boy.

"Harry, what happened?"

Harry growled and snout began to glow as a flame of anger built in his throat. He physically calmed himself and the glow faded. "I don't know how, but she wound up naked in Fluffy's old room surrounded by older Slytherin boys about to do... things to her." Harry said with clear disgust.

Poppy was growling now. She cursed and stormed into her office. Joyce stayed seated on the cold hard floor whilst Luna wept.

Poppy could be heard barking orders into the Floo in her office, they couldn't tell who until she emerged with Minerva.

"Harry, did you set Norbert on those upper year Slytherin boys?" Minerva asked. She had been forewarned about his dragon state, but still managed to pull up short as she exited the office.

"Yes, why? Has she eaten them yet?" Harry asked with an air of nonchalance.

Minerva eyed him warily. "No, why?"

The affected air of calm and apathy was quickly replaced by a rage that caused Harry's snout to light up again.

"BECAUSE THEY WERE GOING TO RAPE LUNA!" He roared, his wings snapping open causing the magical room to expand to accommodate them.

Minerva was torn between terror at Harry and her own rage and disgust for what happened to the young blonde girl.

"Holy Mary, Mother and Joseph!" Xander exclaimed as he appeared in the room with Hermione and Neville.

"Wow, Harry?" Neville asked in awe.

"Did you take the animagus potion without us?" Hermione asked as she glared at him with arms crossed and foot tapping ominously.

Harry was still enraged over the attack on Luna and just growled angrily.

"Silence Hermone!" Minerva admonished harshly. "Now is not the time. Xander, there was a sexual assault on Miss Luna Lovegood here. As per your instructions, Harry saw to the safety and security of the castle and it's inhabitants."

Xander, like Minerva, was torn between two emotions. He felt the same rage as Minerva, but also pride in Harry.

He put the pride away, he would express it later.

"Minerva, go call in Nym and Kingsley. Where are the little fuckers?"

"Language!" Minerva admonished.

"I'm justified." He growled back. "Where are they?"

"Harry has Norbert guarding them in Fluffy's old room." Joyce said quietly. Luna was now dozing quietly, having sobbed herself to sleep.

"Ok, Harry, I need you to change back so you can help me with Norbert." Xander said turning to the large dragon.

"Can't we just let her eat them?" Harry whined.

"Only if the law fails to provide this young girl with justice." Xander said firmly.

Harry clearly sulked causing Neville to chuckle at the amusing sight.

"How do I change back?" Harry asked worriedly.

Xander frowned. "How did you change in the first place?"

"I found out where Luna was being attacked so I teleported straight there. When I arrived I was like this, I teleported Norbert in straight away."

"Xander, I think his change was emotion based. He originally refused Minerva's request to call Norbert off." Joyce offered. "He is also very angry over what Luna went through."

"Right… emotions… Willow 2.0." Xander sighed. "Harry, close your eyes and try and relax. Think of something happy and relaxing. Then try thinking about changing your body, think of your human body." Xander instructed.

Harry shuffled his large body slightly before closing his eyes. He took a deep breath and expelled it causing everyone to get blown back along with the beds in the infirmary.

"Oops." He said with a sheepish chuckle.

"Just get on with it." Xander groused as he helped Joyce and the now awake Luna off the floor.

As Harry was lying there curled up, he tried to think of his favourite moment. Fortunately, he actually had some since Xander arrived. He really wanted to think of the dragons in Romania they had visited… but he figured it wouldn't help if he was trying to turn into a boy again.

He finally picked the day that Xander, Joyce and Minerva had adopted him. He settled down and focused on relaxing in the feeling and how it felt to be hugged as a boy by-

He was snapped out of his attempts by the doors banging open and something crashing into his tail and backside.

"Oh my!" Albus exclaimed as he picked himself up off the ground.

Harry turned around in a surprisingly fluid motion for a creature his size. "Do you mind? I'm trying to focus here!" He said indignantly.

"Harry!" Hermione admonished.

"What? It's the hospital wing, Poppy always says we should be quiet in here." Harry groused as he turned back.

"Could I enquire-"

"Later Albus, we're a little busy. If you're gonna stay, then be quiet, otherwise, you should leave." Xander interrupted. "Carry on Harry."

Once again, Harry settled down. Fortunately he was able to relax easier now that he had his memory. Eventually he realized he couldn't feel his tail, the room felt bigger. He opened his eyes and found himself looking up at Xander.

"Very nice Harry, you didn't even morph, one second you were a dragon, the next a boy." Xander said proudly.

"It didn't appear to be an animagus transformation." Hermione said thoughtfully.

"We aren't trying to be animagus." Neville said. "We're magimagus."

"And you think that might be causing the difference in how we transform… or will?" She asked.

"I dunno, I just watch and copy what Harry and Xander do." He shrugged.

Hermione just rolled her eyes.

Neville was saved from Hermione's ire as Minerva returned with Kingsley and Nym.

"Aw man! Did we miss the Harry-Dragon?" Nym whined.

"Later Tonks, you can play after we've dealt with the bastards." Kingsley admonished firmly.

Tonks blushed a little but straightened herself up and gave a sharp nod of understanding.

"Xander, Minerva says there was a sexual assault?" He asked.

"I was out of the building. Harry handled the situation. I condone and approve of his actions. Miss… erm…"

"Lovegood. Luna Lovegood." Joyce supplied.

"Right, Luna was the victim."

"Ok, with everyone's approval, I will leave Tonks to take good care of Miss Lovegood. Xander could you help me retrieve the perpetrators?"

"You'll need Harry. He left Norbert guarding them." Minerva pointed out.

"Very well, it will give me a chance to get his statement as well." Kingsley said as he gestured for Xander and Harry to lead the way.

Harry just looked at Kingsley like he was nuts, and teleported all three away.

Nym led Luna and Joyce to a corner of the hospital wing where Joyce created some comfortable seats and Nym warded the area for privacy. Joyce sat on a two seater sofa with Luna hugged tightly to her side as Nym sat in a comfortable arm chair opposite with her dictor-quill and pad taking notes as it floated next to her and she gently quizzed the young girl about what happened.

Minerva teleported Neville and Hermione back to the apartment, they were no longer needed and someone could get them if they were.

Nym sat back and sighed.

This was going to be a very depressing case. It was bad enough that the young girl was forced to go through this ordeal, but it didn't sound like there would be enough to take it to court. Or even charge the boys with.

From the way Luna described things, the boys found her naked. They didn't abduct her. Sure they could stretch things and claim they prevented her from leaving, thus causing her to be their prisoner, but it was a huge stretch.

Then there is the fact that the boys never had the chance to lay a hand on her. The castle and Harry were perfect security and safety systems… of course, there was no telling how Xander would have reacted… he might have just killed the boys on principle. He had a very vicious streak.

But the lack of physical contact left a huge hole in their case. They could easily claim that they had no intention of hurting her.

According to Joyce, the boys were Slytherin, they could likely afford to bribe their way out.

The best they could hope for was to collect the evidence and present it to Madam Bones and Xander. See if they could dispense reasonable justice.

"Ok, we have the boys in custody thanks to Harry and Norbert." Nym said, finally. "But I think we need to question the whole of Ravenclaw house. Somewhere in there are the only people who could access Luna from her dorm room… unless you think a staff member or House Elf could do it?"

Joyce sighed. "No, you're right. I can't believe things have gotten this bad that the students could abuse each other this way." She said with a hint of anger. "I don't think I'll be going to sleep for centuries again."

"We can eliminate the lower years. They would have to have disillusioned Luna to get her past the portraits and armour." Nym pointed out.

"True, and none of them have cloaks like Harry."

"It's late, I think we should summon the fourth years and up to the Great Hall and begin questioning. See if someone will snitch, hopefully them being tired will force them to turn on each other."

"Sounds a little harsh… but deserving. We'll run it by the others first." Joyce agreed.

Kingsley had the same worries about this being too weak to take to court. Xander had decided to exercise his rights as owner or of Hogwarts, Lord Hogwarts, King of the Goblins and Hogwarts Chief of Security. He threw the boys in a dungeon till they could determine the appropriate punishment.

They were now standing in the Great Hall with the upper Ravenclaw students seated at their table. Minerva had been in favour of Nym's idea, surprisingly. Albus was the only one who believed they should assign the would be assaulters detention and forget it happened.

Harry and Joyce had to be forcibly restrained after Albus made that suggestion.

Joyce was now settling Luna into a new room in the Apartment after Harry was adamant she would not be staying in the Ravenclaw dorms again. Minerva was attempting to contact Luna's parents.

Albus, Xander, Fillius, Kingsley and Nym were standing on the raised dais in front of the staff table, surveying the scene. Fillius was livid when he heard what had happened. He was wholeheartedly in favour of any and all of Harry's suggestions.

Albus was beginning to fear a bloodbath, and he was powerless to stop it. Even his position as Chief Warlock held no sway at Hogwarts anymore. Not since Xander had reclaimed its sovereignty.

Kingsley, as per agreement of the adults, stepped forward. "Students, I am Senior Auror Kingsley Shacklebot." He said sternly. He projected himself, as Xander called it, as a 'hard ass'. "Earlier this evening, one of your housemates, Miss Luna Lovegood, was found naked in a room on the third floor. She was about to raped by several upper year Slytherin boys when the castle security set in and she was rescued."

There were several gasps from a few students. Particularly the muggle-born.

"We have the assaulters from the third floor in custody and they will be dealt with. However, Miss Lovegood was abducted from her dorm room, which means one of you must have stunned and abducted her and left her on the third floor. If you come forward now, willingly, we will attempt to persuade the courts to be lenient. If not, then we will be relentless… with you all."

There was a heavy silence, no one moved, eyes were shifting. Passing back and forth between those they suspected were guilty… or those they suspected they would rat them out.

"You have five minutes to decide. Then we become… pro-active." Xander announced grimly.

Harry watched from behind the staff table under his cloak. He figured Joyce knew where he was as she was currently hyper-aware of the castle. She had warned them that this was not possible for her all the time as it wore her out quickly and could only be sustained if she was absorbed back into the castle.

Harry wanted to be there to ensure the culprits were caught. So he had snuck out and was now watching as Kingsley spelled an ethereal clock in the air that began counting down five minutes.

Several girls had looks of fear. Those were more to do with the realization that it could have been them instead of Luna. This brought home the realization to Xander that regardless of the legal ramifications, he would have to expel the attackers for the safety and peace of mind of the rest of the students.

Some of the students, both male and female, had very angry expressions. This told Xander that he had to expel the perpetrators for their own safety before they were killed by their own housemates.

The clock ticked down 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

"Disappointing." Kingsley said with disgust. "Now we will see if there is any honour amongst the rest of you. We offer the chance for you to come forward as witnesses. To reveal the criminals amongst you."

There was no chance for pause as Penelope Clearwater shot to her feet. "I don't know who did it, but I offer my memories of this evening and my confession of innocence and ignorance under veritiserum." She said proudly.

Harry was touched and quite proud as several other students offered the same. It seemed there was a touch of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff in the house after all.

"Thank you Penelope, and the rest of you. That will be very helpful." Xander said warmly, despite his grim face.

"Can anyone point out the culprits?" Kingsley asked. "We will be questioning you all to find out more information, so you can do so in private if you wish."

Harry didn't want that. He wanted the people named and shamed. He wanted anyone protecting them to realize that he would never let this happen again… he realized that he was talking about his intent to prevent it.

The students gasped as Harry threw off his cloak and was suddenly surrounded by Fluffy and Norbert.

"I have a better idea." He said as he stormed to the front of the dais, marching straight through the staff table. "I say we set the dragon and the cerberus loose on these cowards. They will sniff out Luna's scent."

Norbert and Fluffy could sense the anger in the room, they were immediately on guard and ready to defend or attack as needed.

"Mr. Potter!" Albus roared. "Such actions are neither necessary or conscionable. Attacking your own classmates is an abominable suggestion!"

"Anymore abominable than them attacking Luna?" Harry demanded. "I think you are all forgetting one very important point."

"And what exactly is that?" Albus said glaring at the young boy.

Xander and Kingsley had long since decided to follow Harry's lead. They trusted him to know the limits of how far he could safely go.

"Luna Lovegood was naked when she woke up. What else did the fucking bastards do to her whilst she was unconscious?"

There were several gasps of realization amongst the students. One girl rushed to a corner and threw up.

Harry's anger was poking at the two dangerous animals behind him. Both were fond of the young human. An angry Harry made for an angry Norbert and Fluffy… their growling began to increase and Norbert's snout was smoking and glowing.

"Mr. Potter! Language!" Albus admonished. "That will be twenty points from Gryffindor for such coarse language and another twenty for threatening fellow students with dangerous animals."

"No, it won't." Xander said quietly. "School rules are not in affect at this time. We are playing by the rules and laws of the country. Illegal acts were committed.

"Furthermore, Harry is right… on all accounts."

"You can not seriously be suggesting letting these creatures hunt through the students?" Albus demanded.

"Why not? We can get the answers one way or another. Norbert and Fluffy can easily do it. So can I." Xander shrugged.

There were sudden cries of fright and surprise. "So can I." Came a deep gravelly voice.

Albus paled and turned slowly to come face to face with the huge form of Harry as a dragon. Norbert and Fluffy seemed tiny by comparison and a much safer choice than the large black dragon that was towering over them all.

"I CONFESS!" Came a high pitched scream.

Everyone turned to see a tall boy with shaggy light brown hair. "But I swear! I never touched her like that!"

Two other male students stood up nodding and claiming their parts.

"Is that all of you?" Harry demanded.

"If there are others and you tell us then we will consider it." Kingsley added.

The three boys exchanged a look of fear and seemed to come to an agreement. "Audrey and Janice helped too." The second boy said nervously.

Audrey and Janice looked outraged. But only because they had been ratted out.

"You stupid idiots! If you had kept your mouths shut we would have been free!" Audrey screamed. "You really think they would have let that little freak set those creatures on us?"

"Yeah, it's also illegal to use veritiserum on us without our parents permission." Janice added.

"You really think you could have stopped me?" Harry asked menacingly as his neck stretched out towards them and his head hovered over the other students.

*Chapter 13*: Chapter 13  
The students were sent back to their dorms and the five aggressors were transported to the dungeon till they could be dealt with. They would be left there over night and for most of the day before Xander could be bothered to deal with them.

Harry had set up camp with Joyce in Luna's new room. Harry had decided that Luna was staying with them for this term at least. Harry woke up in the middle of the night when he heard a loud crack. It took him a good minute or so to realize that the reason he was looking down at Joyce and Luna from so high was that he had transformed in his sleep and squashed the armchair he had been sleeping in. Both females seemed to find it highly amusing. Harry was just glad that the castle was magical and could expand to fit his large dragon body. He didn't bother changing back, he just curled his tail around him with his head resting on his forelegs and drifted off to sleep. He distinctly heard Luna's sleepy:

"He's such a cute dragon."

Minerva was horrified by what she found at Luna's home. Xenophilius Lovegood was certifiably insane. And that was not just a nasty description of someone's eccentric behaviour. The man could not care for himself and relied on a house elf. Minerva had no choice but to call in St. Mungo's. Luna was now a de facto ward of Hogwarts. As if the poor girl hadn't been through enough.

Luna seemed to accept this as though she had expected it. Something that worried Joyce and Minerva.

"I've always wanted a brother." She responded with a dreamy smile.

"And just how is that relevant here, Miss Lovegood?" Minerva asked.

"Lady Hogwarts is Harry's new mother." She said indicating Joyce. "And now she will be mine… this inevitably makes Harry and I siblings."

"Can't argue with that logic." Xander grinned from behind the two ladies as they sat in Minerva's office.

"And makes you my new daddy."

"Hey now! I already have one son, no one said anything about getting a matched set!" Xander blustered.

Luna just sat there smiling dreamily at him.

"I believe Luna has a bit of the 'sight' in her." Joyce said with a frown. "She sees the world differently… just as you can see people's lies and truths. We will have to pay attention to see if she also has the seer's gift as well, as those two tend to go hand in hand."

Minerva scoffed. "As long as she doesn't turn out to be some old fraud like Sybil Trelawney."

Harry took his new title of 'Big Brother' seriously. For a whole week he would teleport from class to class so he could ensure Luna got to her classes safely.

By the end of the week the dreamy young girl was becoming frustrated and the first sibling blowup was only averted by Joyce explaining to Harry that she needed to have some space.

Penny Clearwater assured Harry that she and a few other girls would help look after his new 'baby sister'. Mainly because they found Harry's dogged attempts at protection, cute.

Harry also decided to take a new approach to keeping Luna safe. He began teaching her how to teleport, phase and talk telepathically thanks to Neville and Xander finally cracking that one.

Xander was a little concerned that Harry had given out the techniques, but more over he was proud of his teaching abilities. He did warn him quietly about discussing it with himself or his mothers first.

Luna was still a little skittish and Harry really wanted to cheer her up. He had a plan as both Malfoy and Lockhart were making nuisances of themselves still.

"Why are we waiting here?" Luna asked as she and Harry were huddled in a corner just outside the Great Hall under Harry's Cloak of Invisibility.

"Because breakfast will start soon and our test subjects will arrive soon."

Malfoy soon walked past, Harry stuck his hand out and sent a blast of magic at him. He quickly withdrew his hand as Malfoy had obviously felt it. He made a mental note to try and replicate invisibility without the cloak.

Luna watched curiously as Malfoy looked around for the source, but seeing no one he walked on, oblivious to the change that had been applied.

Less than a minute later and Lockhart marched confidently by. He didn't seem to notice Harry's actions.

Harry grabbed Luna's hand and dragged her along under the cloak to watch what happened next.

Lockhart was sauntering happily towards the staff table oblivious to all the stares and sniggers he was receiving.

"Gilderoy my dear boy, are you aware that you have… something on your… posterior?" Albus enquired with an amused smile.

"My what?"

"Your arse. You've got a light coming out your arse." Xander chuckled.

"What? How in Merlin's name did that happen?"

"Actually, I think its sunlight." Joyce frowned. She had an idea what had happened. She looked towards where her son was sitting with Hermione, Neville and Luna.

"He's got the sun shining out his arse?" Xander smiled before laughing. "God that's brilliant! Ten points to whoever came up with this!" He told the sniggering pupils.

After a few seconds Xander sighed, still grinning. "Oh well, worth a shot."

"What was?" Hagrid asked.

"I figured that if I offered points for this the person responsible might have owned up."

"Thin. Very thin." Joyce commented.

"You have a better idea?"

"I have an idea who did this, but no proof." She sighed.

At this point Draco Malfoy squealed like a girl and jumped from his seat. Smoke was rising from where he was sitting and it was obvious he had the same condition as Lockhart.

"I definitely know who did this."

After Draco's little butt burning incident, they soon realised that their trousers were burning away. This led both males to being taken up to the Hospital Wing and made to lie face down on the beds with no trousers on.

Of course this information somehow made it's way to the general populace.

Poppy, Joyce and Filius spent all morning trying to reverse it. They were never more sick of the sight of bare buttocks by lunch time so Joyce went and grabbed Harry and took him back to the apartment to interrogate him.

"It was you, wasn't it." So maybe her interrogation was more of an accusation.

"What was?" Harry asked innocently.

"You know what, Harry. You made the sun shine out of their backsides!"

"I thought you said they did that?"

"You know what I mean, Harry!"

"Why would I do that?"

"I am well aware of what those two are like, Harry. But you can't just go around and do something like this!"

"Why would I do this?"

"We all know how Draco tends to pick on you, Neville and Hermione. And Lockhart still seems to be trying to use you to further his fame."

"But… if you know this, why aren't you stopping it?" Harry asked with a frown.

"We are doing what we can Harry."

"Have you tried suspending them?"

"I'll discuss it with Xander and Minerva- wait a minute! We are discussing you here!" Joyce exclaimed as she realised that Harry had somehow managed to derail the conversation.

"And how I am being mistreated by staff and students and they are getting away with it." Harry added. He didn't really think there was a major problem. Draco and Lockhart were simply annoying. He knew that Joyce usually managed to reign Draco in and Xander did the same with Lockhart. But he was finding it highly amusing to lead his new mother around the garden path.

"We were discussing you reversing whatever it is you did to Malfoy and Lockhart."

"But… I didn't say I did anything to them."

Joyce just sighed. "Just go and see Poppy and try and help her fix them."

Harry shrugged and teleported out.

"Ah! Harry, just the boy I wanted to see." Poppy called from her office. "Get in here."

Harry gave another sigh before he slouched off into the office.

"Now, I want you to reverse what you did to those two out there."

"Why is everyone accusing me?" Harry asked. He wasn't angry, just curious.

"I don't know why everyone else is accusing you, but I know it was you. I want you to cancel your charm and then you have a weeks detention with me."

"How can you know?" He asked suspiciously.

"Because I can cast a spell that will detect the magical signature used. I am very familiar with yours and as such, can spot your work. Now get to it!" She ordered.

Harry's subsequent week of detentions involved Poppy having him keep the Hospital Wing clean and also learning useful healing spells.

The news that Harry was responsible made him the hero of the school… and a god to the Weasley Twins. But his ultimate goal was achieved as Luna found the whole thing hilarious.

Xander had a slightly less magical issue to deal with at the beginning of November when he received notice from the Grangers that the Dursley's trials were not going well.

They were winning their defence because they couldn't speak about Hogwarts or magic. As a result a lot of evidence had to be left out. After speaking with Joyce, Minerva, Dan and Emma, Xander decided to pay a visit to the Dursley's home.

"What do you want Freak?" Vernon demanded smugly as he opened the door. "Come to apologise and beg us not to counter sue?"

"Nope. I've come to convince you that you really need to confess in the non-magical courts." Xander grinned back. His eye patch was in place today as his wolf eyes were not going to pass muster amongst the non-magicals.

Xander just pushed the blustering man inside and shut the door. Petunia came in soon after.

"What do you want?" She demanded.

"Justice." Xander grinned evilly. "Sit down." He growled as he allowed his wolf eyes to reappear.

The two disgusting humans quickly sat down.

"Here's the deal. You accept and acquiesce to all charges and serve your time. If you don't, and you manage to worm your way free… I'll have you charged in the magical world… or… as I am the ruler of the Goblin Nation… I'll have you charged there." Xander said as he sat back with a smug smile.

Vernon scoffed. "Her Majesty's government would never stand for such a thing! And you freaks probably aren't capable of it anyway."

"The magical world is part of the United Kingdom. If I take this to the magical courts you will not be able to hide evidence because of magic." Xander sighed and leaned forward. "Here's what you aren't getting. In your non-magical world, Harry James Potter is just a small, unwanted child who you believe to be deficient and a burden.

"In the magical world, Harry James Potter is a celebrity on par with Princess Diana or her children. He literally saved the world. He is loved universally. The entire world knows of his name and history.

"What exactly do you think the magical world will do to you when they see the memories of what you did to Harry? They can do that, view memories. Do you really think that you'll be safer in a magical prison… where many of the bad guys are who Harry stopped… or in a non-magical prison where you are barely known and Harry Potter is just a statistic?"

Vernon and Petunia paled significantly. They shared a look of horror as Petunia squeezed Vernon's chubby hand.

If there was ever a time Xander thought the term 'muggle' applied… it was with these two… creatures. They had no honour or discernible morals. Only a thin veneer of civility that allowed them to survive amongst other humans.

"Vernon… fix this!"

Xander chuckled. "He can't do anything. In case you haven't realized, the reason you can't get hot water or heat in the winter, or cool air and cold water in the summer, is because some wizards and witches who know what you did to their hero and friend have cast magic here. Imagine what will happen when the true fanatics find out."

Xander left with the Dursley's practically on their knees, begging him to let them confess in the non-magical courts. He was a bit disappointed as he was looking forward to seeing them suffer the wrath of the wizarding world.

A week later and Dan and Emma were at the castle celebrating with everyone the fact that the Dursley's were currently on route to one of Her Majesty's fine boarding establishments for… special people.

December led to Gryffindor versus Slytherin match. Xander enlisted Neville's aid in patrolling and monitoring the pitch whilst Harry was otherwise occupied. Minerva would have joined them but she insisted she needed to keep an eye on Lee Jordan.

Joyce preferred being in the stands and was not a fan of flying… in any way. Hermione was happy to join her.

The match started off with the usual Slytherin tactics of trying to beat the opposing team into submission. Harry avoided Malfoy like the plague keeping an eye out for the snitch.

It didn't take long for Harry's first bout of Quidditch excitement of the season to occur. He acquired himself a rabid fan in the form of a rogue bludger. The Slytherin's didn't seem to notice.

Malfoy thought Harry was on the tail of the snitch and followed closely.

"Xander, that bludger's been tampered with." George said as the twins flew up to the hovering yet broomless man.

"Doesn't matter what direction we hit it, it changes direction and goes for Harry." Fred added.

"Damn it!" Xander growled. "Have Hooch end the game. We need to end this before someone gets hurt."

As the twins flew off Xander began tracking Harry. He could see him speeding away with Draco hot on his tail and the bludger smashing through anything in its path.

Xander could move fast in flight, but he could never match Harry's speeds on or off the broom. He knew he had to reach the bludger at least. He would need Harry's help to do so.

'Harry? It's Xand, we've cancelled the game so we can sort this bludger out. Try and lead it to the centre of the pitch, and try and convince Malfoy to break off, I don't need to be worrying about him as well as the bludger.' Xander sent mentally.

Harry sent back an acknowledgement and reduced his speed to let Malfoy catch up.

"Malfoy! Break off! Games been called." He shouted over the roar of the rushing wind.

"Ha! Pathetic Potter! You really think I'd fall something as feeble as that?" Malfoy scoffed.

"Fine, but don't blame us if that bludger gets you." Harry said before putting on a burst of speed.

Malfoy decided to actually glance behind him and paled as he saw the bludger smashing its way through the support beams of the stands as it gained on the two seekers.

Harry knew he had to escape from below the stands before the bludger did enough damage to bring them down on top of them. He saw an exit and piled on the speed.

Unfortunately, Malfoy had the inside track and panicked managing to knock Harry off balance. Manoeuvres at those speeds were unwise and the resultant impact of Malfoy into Harry's broom sent Harry smashing into the crowded stands and bowling several people over.

Xander saw this and cursed. One day Malfoy was going to get himself killed. Granted Xander would probably be the one to kill him, but he would bring it on himself.

He teleported to hover over Harry and managed to conjure a sheet of steel which absorbed the speed and blow of the bludger. He quickly transfigured the sheet into a steel box to lock down the missile.

Harry's arm was in agony. He was fairly certain it was broken. A quick look told him that it was very much broken. His leg felt warm and wet, he was hoping he hadn't wet himself as he was currently lying on top of several students. He hoped he hadn't hurt them either.

He could hear voices, it was suddenly dark and wondered if he was passing out.

He could hear Lockhart. "No… not L…hart." Harry mumbled.

He could hear the man's obnoxious voice declaring his expertise. Suddenly he couldn't feel his leg. He hoped he still had one. He could hear screams of horror. He hoped that wasn't because they had realized he had wet himself.

Harry decided he had had enough. They could scream all they liked. He was going to take a nap.

Xander was fuming! He was pacing up and down the Head's office in complete agitation so angrily that he was unaware he was actually changing back and forth between his werewolf and human form.

"Xander, please sit down!" Minerva admonished.

"I want him brought up on charges." Xander demanded. "Actually, I want him handed over to the Goblin nation for trial." He said as he pounded his fist on Albus' desk.

The old man could understand somewhat where the young man was coming from, but he thought he was going overboard.

"Xander, please. It was a mistake. A fairly large one I'll grant, but still a mistake." He said soothingly.

"That- that- that FOOL! Nearly killed Harry!" Xander bellowed. "He had no business being anywhere near an injured student, he has no qualifications or experience and he decides to try and play 'Doctor' with MY SON!"

"I'm sure his intention was not to harm young Harry, Xander." Albus reasoned.

"And the person who decides to drive whilst drunk doesn't intend to crash and kill either! We still hold them responsible!" Xander retorted.

"I'm sorry?" Albus asked in confusion.

"Flying a broom whilst intoxicated and as a result crashing and killing someone." Minerva explained.

"Ah." Albus said understandingly. "I must admit, I am hard pressed to come up with a counter to that argument. But I must insist that you calm down before acting rashly. I would much prefer that you left this incident to myself and the board to deal with. Your participation should only be that of a parent to avoid any implication of impropriety."

"He's right Xander." Minerva said tightly. She was just as angry as Xander. "There will be hell to pay if that man isn't sanctioned!" She said turning her ire on Albus before she frog-marched Xander out of the office.

Harry was running through the corridors, he could hear that voice again. It was going to kill and it wasn't looking for cats or mice. He needed to get to Neville and Hermione and make sure they were ok.

Harry suddenly felt as though he had been hit in the stomach. He could hear someone calling his name.

He blearily opened his eyes and tried to figure out why he was in the hospital wing and why Dobby was straddling his stomach.

"Do'y? Wha' ya do' 'ere?" He muttered tiredly. His leg was beginning to ache and his arm wasn't far behind.

"Harry Potter should not be here!" The excitable elf squeaked as he bounced up and down.

"Stoooop b-b-bouncing." Harry groaned in pain.

"Dobby is sorry sir!" The elf cried and proceeded to jump off the bed jostling Harry badly and then proceeded to smash his head on the bedside cabinet.

"Dobby! Stop!" Harry barked.

The elf stopped mid bash.

"Why you here?" Harry was in far too much pain to bother with grammar.

"Dobby wants to protect Harry Potter sir! Dobby tried to stop the train, but Harry Potter was sooo great and powerful that he moved the whole carriage! Dobby's bludger would have stopped Harry Potter from staying at Hogwarts but the yellow haired wizard attacked Harry Potter making it too dangerous to move him."

"Your bludger?" Harry asked.

"Yes sir, Dobby wanted to scare Harry Potter, Dobby ironed his hands as punishment." The elf said sadly as he held up his hands.

Harry could blearily make out bits of cloth around the gnarled hands.

"Xander protect me. Talk to him." Harry groaned. He really wanted to go back to sleep… or get hit in the head with a bludger… either worked for him.

Before Dobby could reply, the entrance doors banged open and Dobby vanished.

Harry tried to close his eyes and sleep, but he was in far too much pain.

He could hear Xander, Joyce and Albus talking to Poppy. Something about Colin. Probably taking more photos and got himself beat up.

The pain suddenly surged and Harry vomited over his bedding and chest.

The adults rushed over.

"Great Merlin! How on earth are you awake Harry?" Poppy asked.

"Easy there Harry, you're pretty beat up. We're gonna put you back to sleep and we'll be here when you wake up." Joyce said as she stroked his sweaty head.

Poppy grabbed a potion vial from her office and quickly returned.

"Drink this Harry, Dreamless Sleep Potion. It will make you sleep through the pain with no nightmares." She said as she gently tipped the potion down his throat.

The magical liquid had him out in seconds.

"What the hell happened?" Xander demanded.

"I have no idea. He shouldn't have woken up like that, he must have been in incredible pain. I fixed his arteries and muscles, but until his femur re-grows it will be imperative that he remain asleep. The pain would be far too great. If it was just his arm, there would be no problem."

"I think I'll stay with him tonight." Joyce said as a chair appeared next to the bed.

"The representatives of the MMC will be here in the morning to take the fool into custody. He will be lucky if he doesn't serve at least six months in Azkaban." Poppy growled.

"Surely that isn't necessary Poppy?" Albus reasoned. "He was only trying to help."

"He was trying to do my job! I didn't spend all that time studying and taking those oaths for nothing." Poppy hissed.

Albus decided not to push his luck.

"What's the MMC?" Xander asked.

"Magical Medical Council. They regulate healers and medi-witches." Poppy explained. "They take a very harsh view on people violating the medical code."

"Ok. What about the shutterbug over there?" Xander said tossing his thumb over his shoulder.

"He's been petrified like Mrs. Norris. Nothing we can do until the Mandrakes are ready." Poppy sighed.

"So Colin is going to miss out on at least four months of school?"

"Worse, he'll miss out on six. The original six months would allow the mandrakes to mature enough for a small animal, but a human requires a fully mature mandrake."

Harry awoke the next day with no memory of how he had woken up that night. Poppy theorized he was probably in too much pain for his brain to handle. He also learnt that during his crash he had broken his right arm and his left femur. The bone had ripped through his femoral artery and he had nearly died.

Lockhart had barged in and vanished both bones and increased the rate of bleeding.

It was only the quick work of herself and Headmaster Dumbledore that had saved him.

Harry begged to be let out of any more DADA lessons.

Minerva and Joyce were happy to tell him that Lockhart had been fired and that Joyce would be taking over the class for the rest of the year.

Poppy kept Harry in bed for two more days before she grudgingly let him leave. It was a short trip where he was teleported by Xander straight to his bed in the apartment for the rest of the week.

The investigation into what happened to Colin was fruitless. Somehow the boy had been separated from his group near where the writing was. Harry, who was still annoyed with the rabid fan boy, suggested that he may have been trying to take photos of the bloody writing. Xander had to concur that it was very likely.

Minerva made a trip to the Creevey Household to inform the parents and younger brother what had happened. She brought them back to the school to visit their son.

"Is… is he in pain?" Mrs. Creevey asked as tears streaked her cheeks.

Poppy answered. "No dear, he's in stasis, can't feel a thing and isn't even conscious."

"So… like cryogenics?" Mr. Creevey asked.

Poppy and Minerva shared a confused look. Minerva put out a mental question to Xander.

"The answer is yes." He said as he appeared in the room, startling the two parents. "Just like cryogenics, but without the cold factor. So… suspended animation."

Neither witch had a clue what they were talking about so they stayed quiet.

"How safe will he be here?" Mr. Creevey asked.

"He is perfectly protected by his condition alone." Poppy informed them. "Nothing can physically harm him nor magically."

"Do you know how this happened? Aren't there safeguards in place?" Mrs. Creevey asked.

"That is part of the problem." Xander sighed. "We have no idea what did this. We believe we know where this happened, but it is an area with no surveillance, and we can't seem to get any in place. The area is protected by something.

"Colin has shown himself to be… highly curious?" He said diplomatically.

"We know… he's a nosey little bugger." Mr. Creevey sighed sadly.

"Yeah, sounds about right. Anyway, there is a crime scene where something similar occurred, we believe he was trying to take pictures of it and left his assigned safety group."

"When he wakes up he is grounded and losing that damned camera!" Mr. Creevey growled.

"What about his schooling?" Mrs. Creevey asked.

Minerva offered the solution here. "Once he awakens, we will give him two options. He can either study hard through the summer, we will provide tutors, or he can return home for the rest of the year and restart as a first year in September."

"His nosiness will be a help then. He's always been an avid learner, so he will probably be able to study through the summer." Mr. Creevey said with a hint of pride.

"We'll make it a day school, we'll arrange transport between your home and the school so he doesn't have to stay here with just the ghosts and remaining adults." Xander said.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I need to finish my meeting with the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement about extra security." Xander said as he disappeared.

"Oh dear, I hope we wer-"

"Don't worry dear." Minerva assured her. "Amelia is very understanding and Xander is dedicated to the school. Why don't you join us for lunch, you can experience a little of what young Colin does and we can answer any questions you might have."

Amelia had instantly assigned Kingsley and Nym to the school as well as putting in a request for aid to the Department of Mysteries.

"I really think we should evacuate the school and close it down until we can find out the cause." Xander said.

"That has far reaching consequences." Amelia said quickly. "For starters, we don't know if it is a student doing it. Or a staff member. Secondly, if we send the children home, it could bankrupt the families. It is actually cheaper to send them to school than to have a parent take time off to care for the child as well as having to pay for the additional food and necessities."

"Damn it." Xander sighed. "Well, we can eliminate the staff if we have them state under veritiserum that they aren't involved. I'll guarantee the safety of their personal lives and that they won't be asked about anything else. I'll even go first.

"But what about the students? We can't have them take the stuff. We'd be no better than that bastard Snape."

"We could ask the seventh year students to take it voluntarily. Those that are of age at least. You could also ask the parents for signed permission. If you have that then you are free to question them."

Xander still felt uncomfortable with the idea. He could tell Amelia wasn't fond of it either. "Ok, we'll ask the prefects and the rest of the sixth and seventh years. Those that agree and pass will maintain or be promoted to prefect. Those that don't will have to be suspended as prefects until the crisis is over. I'll make it clear that this won't affect their records."

All but the Slytherin prefects volunteered for the truth potion. Many of both years, including Slytherin students offered to take the potion including some of the lower years when they heard.

Albus was forced into writing a note co-signed by Amelia, Minerva, Joyce and Xander informing the parents of the situation and offering free rides home for those who wished to remove their children.

Albus was highly reluctant to let the situation become public, he argued with the others for an hour before Minerva threatened to write it anyway and make it clear he wanted them kept in the dark.

The prefects were pulled from night time patrols. The suits of armour were assigned to their routes whilst Xander, Nym, Kinglsey and Joyce took rotating shifts guarding the area with the writing. So far nothing had been discovered, Amelia was considering bringing a retired Auror to investigate and Xander was already having the Gringotts' Curse breakers check the area out. Unfortunately it was hard to determine anything as the area was saturated in magic.

Harry returned from his stay in the hospital wing to discover that Hermione and Neville had decided that Malfoy was the Heir of Slytherin and was petrifying students. They didn't know how, but they were sure of it. Harry tended to agree with them.

Xander, Joyce and Minerva didn't. Xander pointed out that Malfoy didn't have the brains to pull it off and the sense to keep his mouth shut about it. If he were responsible, the whole world would know it.

This wasn't enough for the three children. Hermione began brewing Polyjuice Potion. It wouldn't be ready until after Christmas so they would just have to stay alert.

Xander was beyond pissed when he found out that Lockhart had gotten off. Apparently he was recognized as an honorary Healer and they considered this an unfortunate accident. They even went as far as to imply that Poppy was at fault.

Xander had no choice but to allow him back to work. He did spend an hour screaming at him and by the time Lockhart left the Head's office he had no intention of doing anything not related to DADA.

His first action was to set up a duelling club to try and ingratiate himself with the school. After all, surely they would acknowledge the wisdom and rightness of someone such as himself teaching them to actively defend themselves on the field of battle.

Xander's first rule was that he, or a professor he approved of, would supervise. Lockhart could run it, but under another's supervision. Second rule was that Poppy had to be in the room at all times. If she wasn't the club was abandoned for that session. Third rule was that if Lockhart injured a single student, Xander would feed him to Norbert.

There was only time for one meeting of the club before Christmas and the turnout was huge. Only the fifth and seventh years were absent as they studied for exams.

The students were packed into the Great Hall where a duelling platform had been placed. Xander was standing at the side with Minerva and Albus, Lockhart was nowhere to be seen.

And then the smarmy git's voice was heard as he marched into the hall and onto the platform.

"Welcome, welcome! So good of you to come." He said with his award winning smile. "Can you all hear me? Can you all see me?" He asked as he tossed his cloak to a third year girl who nearly swooned.

"Oh god. Please let me kill him?" Xander muttered quietly to Minerva who merely rolled her eyes.

"As you are all aware, some miscreant has been attacking students."

"Yeah… blond ponce with a huge ego." Xander remarked under his breath.

"Hush Xander." Minerva admonished, despite the fact that she agreed and had her own internal monologue running. Hers was far more… colourful.

"I have graciously been allowed to run this duelling club in order to teach you to defend yourselves and repel attackers.

"First, I believe we will have a demonstration. If I could prevail on two of the professors to perform an exhibition duel?"

"Wow, alert the press, an intelligent idea!" Xander snorted quietly.

"You wish, I made the suggestion to him." Minerva growled back. She turned to Lockhart and spoke loudly. "I would be happy to duel you, Professor."

Lockhart faltered for a second. He had thought his reputation would dissuade anyone from challenging him.

"Err… as you wish dear lady." He said recovering quickly with deep theatrical bow.

Minerva and Lockhart took their positions and squared off.

"We will be casting to disarm only, wouldn't want to deprive you of your Transfigurations Professor." He said charmingly.

Minerva just smiled sweetly as some of the students tittered quietly.

"On three. One, two, three – EXPELIRAMUS!" He bellowed.

Minerva responded with a simple non-verbal shield.

Lockhart cast again.

Minerva shielded.

As Lockhart kept firing, Minerva started walking towards him as she kept her shield up.

Lockhart was getting more and more flustered as he kept firing various jinxes and hexes.

Eventually Minerva was within reach of Lockhart. She primly plucked his wand from his hand and marched back to her starting point.

"I believe I have won." She said with a serene yet subtle smile as she dropped his wand on the floor with a clatter and daintily stepped off the platform.

"You could at least have slapped him!" Xander grumbled.

Lockhart meanwhile was still gaping at Minerva. The students were beginning to shuffle unsurely.

Lockhart shook himself. "Erm… right. That was a perfect example of… of…"

Xander sighed and pushed himself off the wall before leaping onto the stage.

"That was a perfect example of what happens in a true fight." He told the assembled students. "I have a set of rules that I teach my students. Some are adopted from various muggle rules, others are just common sense. Here are the most important ones:

"Rule One: Don't die! – It doesn't matter what is happening, who you are facing off against. If you die, that's it. No do-overs or second chances. Run away, hide… get away from the fight. That way you can come back, make a better attempt or get help. If you die, then you can't accomplish what you were trying to do, like rescue someone.

"Rule Two: In war, people die. Learn to deal with it. Your friends will die. Your family will die. If you dwell on this too much… you will die. Remember Rule One.

"Rule Three: Don't break Rule One.

"Rule Four: You can't change Rule Two.

"Rule Five: There are no rules in war. The enemy will cheat… be prepared to do the same.

"Now, this duelling club is to teach you the tools to survive a fight." Xander turned to Minerva. "Another demonstration, please?"

Minerva climbed back up onto the stage as Lockhart just stood there, unsure of what to do.

"Now, erm… ah Hermione, your wand please?" Hermione handed her wand to Xander who knelt down at the edge of the platform to reach it. "Minerva, could you cast that disarming curse at me?"

Without pause and a shout of "Expelliarmus" Hermione's wand flew into Minerva's hand.

"Looks pretty simple. Professor McGonagall will give us a demonstration on that and the shield charm she used and then you will break into pairs."

A quick demonstration later and Xander fobbed off the job of pairing up the students to Lockhart, who made several key mistakes.

Nobody was certain why he decided to pair Gryffindors with Slytherins, but he did. And chaos ensued. Hermione and Millicent ended up in a physical wrestling match when Millicent realized she had no chance at beating her with a wand. Hermione was treated to the unique fragrance of Bulstrode's armpits.

Goyle had the same problem as Millicent and found the same solution. Except his partner, Neville simply stood there phased as Goyle kept trying to punch him but kept putting his fist through the out of phase Neville.

Crabbe quickly defeated Ron by charging at the red head. Ron was so terrified that he threw his wand at the charging ape and curled into a ball on the floor.

Malfoy… as expected, was paired with Harry. His first and only spell conjured a serpent. Harry responded by teleporting behind Malfoy and phasing the boy into the ground up to his waist.

"ENOUGH!" Xander roared.

For a matter of seconds everyone froze.

Then everyone noticed the snake was still moving.

"Stop moving for a moment." Harry told the snake in Parselmouth.

"Why?" The snake asked curiously.

Harry hadn't really had a reason, other than 'because Xander said so'. Of course the snake would understand, so Harry thought quick. "Because all the large humans will be scared of you and might trample you when they run."

The snakes head quickly snapped around from side to side before it coiled back down on itself.

"Can you protect me?" It asked nervously.

"I can, but no one will hurt you if you stay still and only approach me." Harry warned.

The snake relaxed but remained coiled.

Harry sighed and visibly relaxed as well. That's when he noticed the whole place was staring at him.

"What? She was worried you would hurt her." He said defensively.

Everyone looked at him like he was nuts.

"She's perfectly safe now! Once we're finished I'll take her back to my room." He tried.

"Y-y-y-you're a Parselmouth!" Ron said pointing at Harry with fear.

"Well… yes… how did you think I was talking to Norbert?" Harry knew Ron was a little dense, but this was ridiculous.

"Parselmouths are Dark Wizards!" Ron accused. Unfortunately lots of other students were nodding along.

"SOMEBODY GET THAT SNAKE AWAY FROM ME!" Draco suddenly screeched.

At this point everyone remembered the boy was phased into the floor and that there was a snake curled up six feet away from him… and them. There was a sudden shuffling as everyone backed away from boy and snake.

The snake was also fairly startled and quickly slithered over to Harry, who put his arms down on the floor for the snake to slither up.

"You're afraid of him?" Harry asked the snake.

"Afraid? Not really, but when all the animals in the jungle go one way, it is best to follow… no telling what they are trying to get away from or what treasure they have found."

Harry couldn't fault that logic.

"Harry, why don't you take you're new friend back to the apartment whilst we finish up here?" Xander suggested. He could see the students were getting very uncomfortable. Lockhart looked like he was about to declare Harry a Dark Wizard and that he would be happy to vanquish him.

Harry just shrugged… snake and all… and teleported out of the Great Hall.

There was an audible group releasing of held breath and sagging shoulders.

Then they heard a growling noise. They all turned slowly as one towards the sound of the growling to see Xander standing on the platform and looking very angry.

"Ron Weasley. You have detention with Mr. Filch for flinging accusations at students. You have all heard Harry talking to Norbert and you all know that he wouldn't hurt a fly unless the fly was attacking one of you.

"Draco Malfoy. You were told what spells to use. 20 points from Slytherin.

"Crabbe, Goyle and Bulstrode. 10 points a piece for improvising when you're magic wasn't working… and yes Draco, they at least tried the spells. However, 5 points from each of you as you are not in battle and this is training. You are supposed to use it to improve your weaknesses.

"Now, after today's… excitement… I am ending today's session. We will start up after the holidays where you will be expected to learn what we teach you and do as you are told. Failure to do that will result in you being kicked out."

There was a rather indignant clearing of a throat behind Xander.

"What Lockhart? I'm kinda in the middle of something."

Lockhart straightened his shoulders and marched up the platform. "I believe I am supposed to be running this club, Mr. Harris." He said snootily.

"That's 'Professor Harris'… or 'Boss'." Xander said causing Lockhart to pale slightly. "I have decided to take on this club myself. Unless you think you can defeat me?" He said with a vicious grin as he indicated the duelling platform.

Lockhart remembered full well the incident at Flourish and Blotts. He quickly acquiesced.

Arrangements were made for Harry's snake to be returned to where it came from. Questions were asked amongst Xander, Joyce and Minerva as to how Draco had managed to pull off a conjuration of a living creature or was it a summoning.

It turned out, through researching the spell, that it was a summoning. It didn't require much magical strength as snakes were considered magical creatures in their own right. Hence the Parselmouths.

Harry managed to avoid too much in the way of fear and mistrust over being a Parselmouth despite both Ron and Draco implying that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin. This further led to certain gullible students believing that Harry and Norbert were behind the petrifications.

Fortunately, these students were a very small minority and scoffed at by their peers and pitied by their professors.

*Chapter 14*: Chapter 14  
Just before Christmas Luna nearly caused Xander a heart-attack.

"Daddy? I need your help to publish the latest addition of the Quibbler." Luna had taken the whole family deal literally. She called Xander 'Daddy' and Joyce 'Mummy'. Xander rolled his eyes as he didn't have the heart to stop her.

"Quibbler?"

"My family newspaper." She said handing over an edition of the aforementioned paper. "My mother and I used to write for it and Father was the editor. When Mother died, I carried on by myself. Our elf handled the printing as Father got sick. He and Mother were soul mates. He should have died when she did, but I think he tried to stay for me and… well, you saw what happened."

"Ok… and why do you need my help?"

"Oh, I can handle everything on my own. I just need an adult signature and Father is unavailable." She said happily.

Xander sighed. "Ok, this looks pretty good to me. I want to see it before you send it out and sign anything."

That sorted, Luna bounced off to compile the latest edition. The articles were already written, they just required typefacing and laying out.

That evening Xander was handed a copy of the next edition of The Quibbler to read whilst Nym was over for her weekly fun time with Harry and his friends. It was quite amusing, a conspiracy rag of sorts. Xander had done a little research and spoke to Nym and Kingsley to see if there was anything to worry about. But he had been assured that most people thought it was a joke paper.

The articles that piqued Xander's interest were the nature watch articles. Piqued in so far that he went deathly pale and nearly had Joyce put the castle on lockdown.

"Luna, honey. Where did you see these… Crumpled Horn Snorkacks?"

"Only in my visions. They look very cute. Father and I were going to go on an expedition to see if we could find them when I was older."

Xander paled. The things did look very cute. Almost like anteaters. Except for the golden shining eyes and a sharp yet crumpled looking horn on the forehead.

"Luna, under no circumstances are you to go searching for these creatures without a fully trained Harry, myself and two squads of US Seal's." He said seriously.

"But why? They are cute?" She pouted.

"It's a disguise. I came across these back home once. One of them decimated an entire village and it took my whole group of girls to kill it. They use that horn to impale and make a hole in you before sucking out your innards. They are very fast and hard to see as they are like chameleons." He said with a look of horror. "I really hope that they don't exist in this world, because if they do we are in a lot of trouble."

Luna's bottom lip quivered.

Xander had spent enough time with young girls to see the water works approaching. "Luna what if I let you see my memories of anything you've seen that existed in my world? I'll also write up the details of any encounter and of the creature. Hell, I'll even let you print the story of what happened back home. If Harry agrees we'll let you print about his adventures here."

The water works dried up and the bottom lip stilled.

Luna suddenly grinned. "Ok." And she bounced happily away.

"I think you've just been played." Nym said with a smirk.

Xander sighed. "Wouldn't be the first time."

Harry was relieved that Christmas had arrived. His second real Christmas. They had decided not to leave the castle this year. Primarily so Xander would be on hand for security. Dan and Emma were teleported up by Xander for the holidays.

The big surprise for the non-magical born, was the New Year's Day Party. All non-magical born and their families were invited to the castle for the party. Xander and Minerva had been discussing logistics, as it didn't seem fair to make families who lived up north travel all the way to London just to head back to Scotland.

A solution was available in the form of the Knight Bus. Xander and Minerva spent thirty minutes being thrown around on the rollercoaster ride of Magical Public Transportation as they made arrangements with Ernie and Stan, the driver and conductor.

The turn out was huge. Every family came as no one wanted to miss the opportunity to see their children do some magic.

Nym, Kingsley and even Amelia turned up so they could answer any questions parents might have about the wizarding world. Nym spent most of her time dragging Xander on to the dance floor.

The party ran through the night and till midday on January 1st.

The year started with disaster as Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick were found near the writing, Justin was petrified and Nick was… not his usual self. He was completely inert and had to be moved by wind charms.

Minerva was livid. She intended to put the boy in detention for a whole term for taking such stupid risks. Judge Finch was in agreement when she and Xander visited to explain the situation to him.

This incident, and Malfoy's gloating and threatening of non-magical born, strengthened the resolve of Harry, Hermione and Neville. They needed to get into the Slytherin Dorms to catch Malfoy in a confession.

January flowed into February and Valentine's Day dawned.

Xander and the kids arrived in the Great Hall to discover disgusting pink decorations that were making even Lavender and Pavarti ill. Then there were the Dwarves dressed as cupids.

Hairy, short, foul-tempered men in nappies do not create an air of romance. What made it worse was when most of them suddenly lined up in front of Xander as he stood in entrance way.

"What?" He asked.

The lead dwarf straightened himself up and began to read from a piece of paper.

"In touch with the ground

I'm on the hunt I'm after you

Scent and a sound. I'm lost and I'm found

And I'm hungry like the wolf.

S-"

"Stop right there." Xander said with a slightly crazed look in his eye. "I'm fairly certain Duran Duran are, as we speak, building a lawsuit. Why don't you actually tell me why you are quoting 80's pop songs at me?"

The dwarf sighed in exasperation. "It's Valentine's day, init? I'm a cupid and this is your Valentine. Are you gonna let me finish? The blond geezer says we get paid by the hour, but these nappies are chaffing."

Xander stared at him for a good thirty seconds, the dwarves began to get nervous. Then the first dwarf started up again.

"Strut on-"

"STOP!" Xander shrieked. "No. This is bad… very bad. Your services are no longer required. Please collect the rest of your… flock of cupids and vacate the premises… quickly."

"We still get paid for what we done." The dwarf said.

"Don't ask me, ask the 'blond geezer'. He hired you."

The dwarves turned and marched up to Lockhart at the staff table.

"Well? Pay up." The lead dwarf demanded.

"Yes… well. Headmaster, I assume you can write up the cheque?" He said turning to Dumbledore.

"Hell no!" Xander declared as he sat at his place next to Lockhart. "The school is not paying for this. It wasn't even cleared by me. It's a huge breach of security."

"But… but… but… there's over fifty dwarves to pay!" He stammered out incredulously.

"Dwarves you hired. Dwarves you let into my school without permission. Dwarves who don't look particularly pleased with you."

It was true. The dwarves looked ready to commit murder.

"You told us you were responsible and had permission." The lead dwarf said. He then turned to Xander. "We apologise. We were mislead, we hold security and honour highly."

Xander did his best to hold back his comment about honour regarding a bunch of men in diapers.

"Not your fault. Lockhart will begin to make amends by paying you what he owes you. He makes tons of money with his books. Furthermore, he's fired. He was already on probation for recklessly endangering my son and now he has endangered everyone in the castle and dragged you into it. Go pack your bags and get out of my castle." He growled.

Within the hour, the students were treated to a sight that would live on in infamy… mainly due to Xander grabbing Colin Creevey's camera. The students watched, laughed and cheered as Gilderoy Lockhart was chased screaming like a little girl from the castle by a group of very hairy Cupids.

In order to give Nym or Kingsley a day off, Xander would switch out with one of them a few times a week. Today was Kingsley's day off and this led to Xander and Nym patrolling near the bathroom.

"This used to be a haunted bathroom." Nym remarked as they passed the door. "Wonder what happened to Old Myrtle."

"She decided she wanted to cross over to the other side." Xander shrugged. At Nym's look of curiosity he elaborated. "On the first day of classes I had with Harry, he had History of Magic. I noticed that Binns looked like a ghost. So…"

"You exorcised him?" She gasped in amused horror.

"I was afraid he was going to literally bore the kids to death!" Xander defended. "Hardly the result I was looking for on my first day as bodyguard, can you imagine the headlines?"

"Boy-Who-Lived Victim of History!" Nym giggled.

"Yeah, my job prospects would plummet… and Joyce would kick my ass." He grinned.

"I have a question." Nym stated quietly and very meekly.

"A preacher working for an ancient evil squashed my eye and broke the surrounding bone. He was very strong." Xander sighed.

"Wha – How did –"

"Everyone gets curious. I'm surprised Harry never asked. Dan and Emma did, but I think they were more interested in making sure it was clean and being cared for." He shrugged.

"I'm sorry."

"Meh… wait, what for?"

"Being nosey, that you got hurt so horrifically."

"Ah, well… I'll survive."

"Do you have nightmares about it?" She asked.

"Far too often. Now that I am here, Joyce keeps an eye on me, makes sure to wake me."

"Maybe I should join you then?" She said with a sad smile.

"Nightmares of your own?" Xander queried as he saw the sadness in her eyes.

"The last time the castle had to deal with a sexual assault, I was the victim." Nym admitted quietly. "As you would expect, I was a bit of a novelty amongst the boys. I could be their fantasy woman. I was saved in time by the suits of armour, but nothing happened to the bastards, not even detention." She spat.

"Is that why you never revert to your base form?"

"Most people are put off by the pink hair, and it makes me stand out, more people watching me, less likely someone will try something."

"An interesting approach. Most people would hide away." Xander mused.

"Technically, I am. I am hiding my true looks." Nym looked at Xander carefully, as if scrutinizing him carefully. "You sort of started doing the same thing, with your wolf eyes, and I've never seen you with the patch off."

"In a sense, but to be honest it is more that I prefer having two eyes, I never take the patch off because… the sight is horrible even for myself." He whispered.

Nym moved in closer and put an arm around his waist as they walked.

"What do you really look like?" Xander asked after a few moments silence.

"Maybe one day I'll show you." She said with an impish grin.

After a few moments comfortable silence Nym smirked. "So, I heard you got a valentine today."

"Oh god, can you really call that a valentine? Besides, most of these kids wouldn't know Dur- wait a minute!" Xander grabbed Nym by the shoulders and stared at her. "It was you! You sent me that thing!"

Nym just laughed. "Well it seemed like the thing to do. Those dwarves were looking for work after all."

"I will get you for this Nym." Xander declared with a laugh.

A few days after the Valentine's Day Debacle, the Polyjuice Potion was ready. They would wait till that Saturday and then incapacitate three Slytherins and get some hair from them.

Crabbe, Goyle and Millicent Bulstrode were their victims. They were in a small broom cupboard that Hermione had cast a notice-me-not charm. Their victims were sleeping in an empty classroom.

"So we put our bits of Slytherin in and then drink up?" Neville asked.

"According to the book, yes." Hermione said primly as she dropped her hairs in.

They had struggled to change in the cramped space as they needed to wear the clothes of their substantially bigger counter-parts. They had taken turns using their ties to blindfold themselves and prevent peeking.

Neville and Harry dropped their hairs in too. The result was… disgusting.

"Seriously? We have to drink this?" Harry asked.

"Only if you want proof that Malfoy either is or knows who the Heir of Slytherin is." She replied with a little annoyance.

Harry grinned as he suddenly got an idea. He conjured a full length mirror in the cramped room and then stood in front of it and began changing his shape and features with his Metamorphmagus abilities.

Within seconds Vincent Crabbe was standing in front of them.

"And how long can you hold that?" Hermione asked.

"Couple of hours. Provided I don't get surprised." He shrugged. He then grinned cheekily. "Drink up guys."

Neville and Hermione looked at their drinks, then at each other.

"The things I do for you guys." Neville muttered as he held his nose and started gulping.

Hermione followed his example as Harry tried not to vomit from the sight of the other two drinking something… unspeakable.

"Sweet Merlin that's gross!" Neville gasped.

"Oh god… I think I'm goi-" Hermione didn't get any further as she turned to a corner and threw up.

Neville doubled over in pain as his body began to ripple and change. He noticed Harry tending to Hermione who was in a similar position.

What seemed like hours later, but was merely seconds, everything subsided.

"Ok…" He gasped. "If Malfoy… is the Heir… we can punish him with that."

"Neville… I think something was wrong with Hermione's bit of hair." Harry said worriedly.

Neville stood up quickly, struggling slightly in his unfamiliar body. He was shocked as he saw a long furry tail poking out of the bottom of Hermione's skirt, as she turned around he saw she had pointed ears, fur all over and definitive cat features.

"I think Millicent has a cat." She said morosely.

"We should get you to Poppy." Harry said clearly worried.

"No!" She said frantically. "Maybe it will wear off? It's only supposed to last an hour." She said hopefully. "You and Neville go and finish the mission. I'll just wait here."

Neither Harry or Neville were happy about leaving Hermione on her own in her current state. But they knew they had an important task.

"Fine, but I'm leaving my cloak here. If an hour passes and you haven't changed then you take it and head to Poppy." Harry said firmly.

Hermione just nodded sadly causing Harry to do something he never usually did. He gave her a hug.

Hermione gave a wet sniffle topped with a little giggle. "This would be so much better if I wasn't a part cat and you didn't look like a gorilla."

Neville started snickering and Harry just stuck Vincent's tongue out at her.

The two boys left on their mission, leaving Hermione behind, the first thing she did was transfigure a hole in her knickers for her tail, she had been so glad when the boys left as they were very close to falling down.

She didn't want to have to go to Madam Pomphrey as it would not only be very embarrassing but would mean admitting she had stolen the ingredients from Professor Flamel's stores. She really liked and respected the Professor. All his students grades were Acceptable or higher. Neville never made the mistakes he made under Professor Snape.

As the minutes ticked by, Hermione paced and worried. Eventually the hour passed and she started to cry a little as she knew what this meant. She was stuck like this and Madam Pomphrey was likely her only hope. She was just about to put the cloak on and make her way to the Hospital wing when Harry and Neville arrived in their own bodies.

Harry took one look at his crying friend and pulled her into a hug. He hated it when she was sad.

Neville took the cloak and threw it over his two friends and teleported them up to the hospital wing.

Hermione was upset to discover that she would be stuck this way for several days to weeks. Worse was that their mission was a bust as it was obvious that Draco had no idea who the Heir was. The three were assigned a weeks detention for stealing with Mr. Filch. But Professor Flamel was kind enough to allow them to serve it together after Hermione was returned to normal.

Nicholas also gave Hermione something to enjoy and help make her accident useful. No one had ever tried or considered using animal hair in Polyjuice. He offered to help her author a paper on the subject with her as the case study. It would be published under his name with Hermione listed as his assistant and co-author. Her first published work. She was thrilled.

Her parents were not. The three children were severely scolded by Emma for their actions. In the end, Xander rescinded their punishments with Nicholas' consent as they had honourable intentions, despite the less than honourable methods. As Joyce pointed out, it would be pretty hypocritical for the man who stole a rocket launcher from a secure military base in order to destroy a world threat to allow three children to be punished for similar reasons.

Whilst Hermione was stuck with her confinement to the Apartment during her recovery, she continued researching both for the paper with Professor Flamel and on what could be causing the petrifications. What spells and the like.

Two weeks into Hermione's recovery, Harry was introduced to the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Professor Remus Lupin. A close friend of his fathers. The meeting was… eventful.

Minerva had informed them that Professor Lupin was arriving today and Harry and Xander were with her to meet him in the entrance hall. Harry was eyeing Xander quizzically. He wasn't wearing his wolf eyes but had his eye patch displayed. Xander had just shrugged at him and grinned causing Harry to roll his eyes at his adoptive father.

Soon enough Hagrid approached with a thin man with clothes more ragged than Harry's when he lived with the Dursleys.

"Professors, Harry." Hagrid greeted with a huge grin before turning to Minerva. "Found this young troublemaker hanging round the main gates. Figured he might be missing the old days when he and his mates were always getting up to mischief."

"I'll have you know Hagrid, that I was never caught! I left that to the others." The man said with a grin.

"I'm afraid he is quite correct." Minerva said as she pursed her lips to keep from smiling. "That doesn't mean we didn't know what you got up to Remus." She said knowingly.

"Hope you won't hold that against me." He said with a sheepish shrug.

"From what I hear, that's actually the plan." Xander said with a small smile. "The antics you got up to are useful in self-defence."

"Too true." Remus admitted. "I'm sorry, I'm Remus Lupin." He said extending his hand to Xander.

"Oh, forgive my manners." Minerva said with embarrassment. "Remus Lupin, this is Alexander Harris. Or Xander. He is also known as Lord Hogwarts and Harry's adoptive father."

"Minerva is actually his adoptive mother along with Joyce, Lady Hogwarts." Xander said accepting the offered hand.

"You're married?"

"No, my own adoptive mother… we have the weirdest family tree." Xander said with cheeky grin.

"As long as Harry is well cared for, that's all that matters to me." Remus said with a sad smile at Harry.

"Sir, why weren't you able to take me?" Harry asked.

"You've been told how close your father and I were?" He asked.

Harry nodded.

"I have this… issue. Your father called it my 'Furry Little Problem'." He said with a fond chuckle of remembrance. "It needs to be kept quiet, but I am a werewolf. It makes it legally impossible for me to do many things in our world. Including take responsibility for a child."

"What's the real reason?" Xander asked, sensing more was being withheld.

Remus looked uncomfortable. "I did everything I could to get Harry. The truth is, I couldn't even find him. I think there were compulsion and wizard-repelling wards around your home." He told Harry.

"There weren't. Since I adopted Harry, several wizarding friends of mine have been to his old home for… revenge." Xander said with a vicious smile. "Minnie, can you check our new Professor for spells?"

Minerva stepped forward and began casting.

She growled in disgust. "The compulsion spells are on him." She reported. "I have removed them."

"Well then, just a few last things and we can get you settled in." Xander said. "What precautions do you take during the full moon?"

"I lock myself away and when I can afford it I get Wolfsbane Potion."

"What does that do?"

Minerva answered. "It enables him to retain control of his body when in wolf form."

"So if you had that, you wouldn't need to be locked up?" Harry asked.

"In theory, but I prefer not to take the risk and I do both." Remus admitted.

"How did you become a werewolf?" Xander asked.

"When I was a small boy, my father did something to offend a werewolf named Fenrir Greyback. Greyback positioned himself near our home during the full moon so that he would attack us. My parents escaped unscathed… I was not so lucky."

"Fucking bastard." Xander muttered.

"Xander!" Minerva admonished.

"And Greyback? Is he dead yet?"

"No, he still lives, he joined with You-Know-Who during the last war and has been known to bite and attack even when in human form." Remus said sadly.

"You're an Alpha, yes?" Xander said sternly.

"I-yes… how did you know?" Remus asked in shock. Humans couldn't usually discern such things, and this Xander didn't smell like a wolf.

Xander transformed to his full wolf form. The size of a small horse. Remus dropped to his knees and bared his neck. It was instinctive, he was standing before an Omega.

Xander growled and sniffed his neck before snapping his jaws within inches of the mans skin.

"This Greyback is disgusting. Your summers will be spent tracking him." Xander growled shocking Remus who had never heard a werewolf speak in wolf form. "When you have found him, you shall send for me and we shall see that he receives justice."

"Yes My Lord." Remus said shakily.

"Stand up Alpha. You're no good on your knees." Xander snarled.

Carefully Remus stood. "Can you fulfil your duties with these conditions?" Xander asked as he flowed back to human form, but this time allowed his wolf eyes to remain.

"I can my Lord."

"Good. Then call me Xander."

"Only in private, My Lord." Remus said respectfully. "My Lord, might I make a request… as a wolf?"

Xander's curiosity was piqued. "Go ahead."

"I know many werewolves who try to live peaceful lives but are forced to live in squalor. Would it be possible for you to spend time among them? Especially during the full moon? I believe the presence of the Omega would be… helpful to them."

"I'll consider it. My first priority is to Harry, and then the school. But we will make every effort to visit them and help them as we can."

Remus Lupin was an instant hit with pupils and professors alike. Many of the professors remembered the quiet young student who was often the only one of four friends not in trouble. And only because he couldn't be caught. The pupils enjoyed his lessons and demeanour in class. He didn't patronize and was always willing to help his students. He also took over the Duelling Club although Xander still helped out.

Within the week was the first full moon. Xander had arranged to have the days when Remus couldn't teach, to have the students engage in physical activities such as jogging. Pretty much P.E. classes. Many of the students grumbled and moaned. Harry, Hermione, Neville and Luna couldn't understand the fuss as it was all done a lot slower than their morning jogs around the lake.

During the full moon, Xander accompanied Remus on a trip to a werewolf village with a batch of Wolfsbane potion courtesy of Nicholas. The trouble with the potion wasn't that it was difficult to make or expensive. It was the fact that the Ministry had placed huge taxes on the sale of the potion making it highly expensive to buy. Xander and Nicholas got around this by supplying it free of charge.

Xander found he was both feared and revered by the villagers. They had a system where they would lock themselves away at night in basements that were warded and would then lock their un-infected children away in separate basements.

"Why aren't some of these kids in Hogwarts? The ones old enough, anyway?" Xander asked.

"Because they are children of werewolves, they are considered outcasts, as if they were werewolves themselves. I am literally the only werewolf child in the past century or so to attend Hogwarts." Remus explained. "Many families will put children up for adoption anonymously to try and give them a better chance at life. But even orphans aren't given the chance."

"Is it the same in other countries?"

"Mainly those controlled by Britain. America and India for instance. The Eastern European countries and other continents such as Australia allow and support werewolves. They recognize the curse as an illness and provide treatment as such. Only Britain and Western Europe actively persecute us."

"Wait… what do you mean Britain controls America? America fought and won its independence." Xander countered.

"Muggle America did, yes. But Magical Britain has a firm hold on the Magical British Empire due to the fact it is run by Purebloods."

"Wow, guess that explains the motivations behind Voldemort wanting control of Britain." Xander mused.

During the full moon, the werewolf adults took the Wolfsbane potion. There were one or two children who were too young to take it. It seemed that they retained their minds thanks to Xander's presence as he played with the younger werewolves in both forms.

The following full moon Remus decided to forego the Wolfsbane to see what would happen. Xander and Remus locked themselves in a separate basement and awaited the full moon.

Harry, Hermione and Neville took to inviting Remus for walks in the evening around the lake. Being the middle of winter they were quickly taught warming charms and the basics of potions to stave off the common cold… not even magic could cure it altogether.

Remus would tell them stories about Harry's parents and his friends, whilst the children would regale him with tales of their adventures and Xander's escapades. The first meeting with Norbert, Fluffy and Fang had been… interesting.

Norbert didn't really care about anyone but Harry. She was happy as long as Harry was happy. Just as Xander was considered King among Werewolves, Harry seemed to be something of royalty with the dragons… according to Norbert at least. Her genetic memory had kicked in and her knowledge of his species was available to her, just as the Romanian dragons had predicted.

So when Norbert met Remus, she gave the professor a good sniff and then shrugged and turned to start batting at the three children playfully. Hagrid had assured Remus that it was just the way Norbert was.

Fang and Fluffy had taken a much more active approach when they instinctively met a fellow canine. Remus found himself pinned beneath the weight of the giant Cerberus as four canine heads growled and snarled at him until he bared his neck in submission.

Remus was very much aware that he was not the Alpha amongst this group. He would have to remember to warn the other werewolves about this.

As they made their way back into the castle after an evening walk, Harry suddenly froze as they mounted the great stairs.

"Harry?" Hermione asked warily. She remembered the last time this happened.

"I can hear it." Harry said quietly, his head tilting as he listened harder.

He suddenly took off running as he others followed, Hermione and Neville calling for Harry only for Remus to hush them.

Two floors up and Harry barrelled into Kingsley.

"Easy Harry, you know this area is off limits." The large man said gently as he righted the young boy.

"I have to find it, he's going to kill someone!"

"Who?" Kingsley asked worriedly, he and Tonks were now on alert.

"I don't know! I can just hear him!"

"Harry, you could hear this as you were running from the entrance?" Remus asked.

Harry nodded with a worried and scared look.

"Damn. Neville, call Xander for us please." Remus requested calmly. "We couldn't hear the voice because it was a snake. But my wolf hearing could hear the hissing. The only snake capable of causing this much mayhem would be a basilisk."

"King of Snakes?" Xander asked as he appeared.

"Indeed, but this complicates matters." Remus frowned.

"Meh." Xander shrugged. "Let loose the mongeese of hell."

"Xander, a mongoose would be just as vulnerable to the stare of a basilisk as anything else." Hermione informed.

"Do they have the bad breath or just the bad gaze?"

"Bad breath?" Remus asked.

"Some legends speak of a basilisk with poisonous breath." Xander explained.

"Ah, no the actual beasts only have the killing stare."

"Why aren't the victims dead?" Tonks asked.

There was a moment of quiet as they all reflected on this…

"Oh! Oh!" Hermione bounced excitedly. "Reflections! Mrs. Norris looked at it in water, Colin had his camera and Justin through Sir Nicholas… and Sir Nicholas… is already dead."

"Sounds a little thin to me." Xander mused, but then saw Hermione pouting. "But doesn't mean you aren't right about it. I agree with you and we will put something in place. Special glasses and ghosts to accompany all groups."

"I have already relayed the instructions to the ghosts and Minerva is getting the teachers together to inform them." Joyce said as she appeared. "There is another major issue. This basilisk is over a thousand years old. I remember little Slinky when Salazar hatched him." She said fondly.

"Seriously? Slinky?" Xander asked with dismay.

"What do you expect, he's your adopted brother. I used you as the example for my sons." Joyce smirked.

"A thousand year old basilisk will be relatively large." Remus mused.

"We also have to consider the possibility that we are dealing with another Parselmouth." Kingsley added. When everyone started looking at him he explained. "Someone had to open the Chamber of Secrets and write the message in blood. So someone is likely controlling the beast."

No one was found petrified or killed that night, but every student was forced to wear glasses. Many of the younger students enjoyed the novelty. Two red-headed students attempted to charm their glasses with things like x-ray vision. They succeeded and attempted to sell the charms before they were caught by Minerva and given a months detention and then fifty points a piece and marks towards their future OWLS by Filius.

Molly Weasley didn't know whether to scream or cry at her twin sons.

Discussion in the apartment became focused on where the Chamber might be. Joyce didn't know and neither did the ghosts. Based on the attacks they assumed it to be around the second floor. Tonks and Kingsley called in an Unspeakable to investigate further.

Nothing was found and no hissing or angry voices were heard.

The following night was a huge wolf celebration as none of the werewolves took the potion after Remus reported that Xander's presence allowed him to keep his mind. Furthermore, there was far less pain during the transformation.

The village was located in a magically hidden crevice amongst the peaks of Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in Great Britain. It was cold and barren and isolated.

Xander discussed the issue with Joyce and then approached the Centaurs to see if there was a suitable place in the forest that could host a docile and peaceful werewolf village.

Arrangements were made and treaties drawn up between Alexander Harris, Lord of Hogwarts and King of the Werewolves and the Centaur Nation. It was pretty straight forward. A werewolf found in wolf form and without the influence of Lord Hogwarts or Wolfsbane would be executed on sight. No risk was to be taken. Any caught in human form would be sentenced to work the goblin mines until such time that Lord Hogwarts, the Centaur Nation and the Goblin Nation deemed them to have truly learned their lesson.

The werewolves were scheduled to move in over the summer holidays.

By the end of April another attack had occurred. A group of Ravenclaw second years were petrified along with two ghosts. The hospital wing was filling faster than Poppy had ever seen.

The only good news was that Dobby seemed to have backed off. The bad news came when Joyce informed Xander that the Minister of Magic had arrived and was accompanying Dumbledore to see Hagrid.

Neither Minerva nor Xander liked the sound of that so they teleported straight to the hut.

"Hey Hagrid, just got word that Albus and the Minister of Magic are on their way down here to talk to you… any idea why?" Xander asked as Hagrid let them in.

"Really? Can't say as I do. I ain't exactly the type to be rubbing elbows with two gentlemen like that." Hagrid said in bewilderment as he rubbed his chin.

That was as far as they got as he had to let the two men in.

Both men seemed to be very apologetic and Albus was clearly against the Minister's plans. When Azkaban was mentioned Hagrid began to panic.

"Just to clarify… you want to lock Hagrid up in the worst place in Britain based on something you can't prove he did fifty years ago?" Xander asked.

Minerva was fuming.

"We have to do something!" Fudge argued.

"Well how about providing more Aurors to patrol the castle!" Xander cried angrily.

"Yes, well… that's a perfectly reasonable suggestion but simply not practical." Fudge said uncertainly. "No. This is what must be done. For the children of course."

At this point there was another knock on the door and Albus saved Hagrid from having to regain his wits as he opened the door… only to find Lucius Malfoy on the other side.

"What the hell are you doing on my property?" Xander growled.

Lucius swallowed heavily, but showed a disturbing amount of Gryffindor Courage by soldiering on. "I have just come from the Governors. They have voted to suspend you Dumbledore as you clearly have lost control of the situation."

"Governors? We have Governors?" Xander asked Minerva.

Lucius continued before Minerva could respond. "I have here the signed orders with all twelve signatures."

"Right. That's it. You. Malfoy. Get off my property. Tell the Governors that they are dismissed with thanks for their long service but they clearly have lost their minds if they are going to remove one of the leaders of the school at a time of crisis leaving a vacuum for whoever is doing the petrifying to take advantage of. They obviously don't have what it takes to act on the behalf of the children."

"I say! You can't just do that!" Lucius declared in outrage.

"I just did. Goodbye." With a wave of his hand, Lucius vanished.

"You. Fudge. Are an idiot of the highest order." Fudge began blustering impotently as Albus looked on in astonishment and Minerva simply had a look that said 'about bloody time'. "Unless you can give me proof that Hagrid is doing something wrong then he stays here and on the job."

"This is just like fifty years ago! The Chamber of Secrets are open and people are being attacked!"

"Tha' wasn't me!" Hagrid declared desperately.

"Any particular reason why they would think it was you?" Xander asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hagrid shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "I… erm… I don't know nothing about the Chamber, but I had this pet and another boy, Tom, he ratted me out and claimed my pet was doing tha' killin's."

"And what was this pet?"

"Jus' a li'l Acromantula. No bigger 'an Norbert when he hatched."

"Acromantula?" Xander asked Minerva.

"Grows into a giant spider… very dangerous but not capable of petrification." She explained.

"What happened to your… 'little pet'?" Xander asked.

"He escaped in ta the forest. Has his own little colony now." Hagrid said proudly.

"You started the Acromantula colony?" Minerva asked incredulously. "Oh Merlin! You can explain to Joyce why the Magical Forest is now the Forbidden Forest!"

Hagrid just looked sheepish.

"We only have Hagrid's word!" Fudge argued. "Once this is all cleared up, if he is proven innocent he can be released."

"Willing to answer under the truth potion, Hagrid?" Xander asked.

"Absolutely." He said firmly.

"I will ask Auror Kingsley to arrange the interview. I'm sure Madam Bones would be willing to attend and witness. But until you bring tangible proof of Hagrid's guilt, he stays here and he stays on his job."

"You can't do this! I'm the Minister of Magic!"

"And I'm Lord of Hogwarts and King of the Goblins… so unless you want me to break out the Goblin Army… I suggest you get the hell of my property." Xander growled.

Fudge looked torn between running for his life and exhibiting some of that Gryffindor Stupidity or Gryffindor Courage… they seemed to amount to the same thing in Xander's view.

Instead, he showed Ravenclaw Intelligence and quickly waddled out.

"Thanks for that Xander." Hagrid said gratefully.

"No worries Hagrid. You'll still need to answer the interview, but other than that, you don't have to worry about Fudge. Might be best if you stayed on the grounds until we sort this out though… don't want them catching you in Diagon Alley."

"What about Hogsmede?" Hagrid asked. He didn't want to miss out on Madam Rosmerta's fine Butterbeer.

"Erm…"

"Hogsmede is actually part of the Hogwarts grounds. So you can go there." Joyce said as she appeared in the hut. "Nice work Xander." She said proudly.

"Thanks… but I feel so cheated… I really feel the need to kick some demon ass right now."

*Chapter 15*: Chapter 15  
Hagrid's interrogation revealed important information. Moaning Myrtle. It appeared they now had a new location. Inside the girls toilets where the message was left. Xander was beginning to regret sending her on though.

The sinks were examined but nothing was found. No spells and no hinges or scratch marks.

The next step was Harry. Slytherin was a Parselmouth so maybe Harry could ask it to open.

Xander was firmly against the idea. He didn't want Harry anywhere near this thing. Harry wanted to help. He also wanted to try and reason with the basilisk. Xander very much wanted to lock Harry away somewhere in the heart of Africa where he would be safer.

Harry forced Xander's hand when an entire group of six students, Professor Vector and two ghosts were hit by the Basilisk.

Hermione was part of that group and was currently laying petrified in her room with Harry sitting there holding her hand as Luna held him and Neville sat on the other side of Hermione's bed. Xander was at the foot of the bed.

"I'm the only one who can speak Parselmouth and what if there are Parselmouth portraits as guards?" Harry argued.

"I'll just have to blow them up." Xander countered.

"They don't work like that, Xander." Minerva said sadly as she joined the group in Hermione's bedroom. "You can dig and dig and dig through a portrait and all you will find is more brick and mortar. You have to access the magic to get through the magical portal."

Xander growled in frustration.

"There is even more bad news." Minerva said forlornly as she sat wearily in the chair by Hermione's desk. "We found another message. A student has been taken. It says her body will lie in the chamber. It was under the original message."

"What about Kingsley and Nym?" Neville asked worriedly.

"Both were petrified."

Harry stood up abruptly. "Who is it?"

Minerva sighed, she knew this was going to be bad. "Ginny Weasley."

Harry didn't say anything. He walked out of the room and out of the apartment.

"Minerva, lock down the school. Looks like Harry is going to get his wish. We're going snake hunting."

Harry and Xander were standing outside Myrtle's bathroom. Xander had dressed Harry in sturdy jeans, a t-shirt and a leather jacket. Xander had called it Harry's Slaying Gear. Both Harry and Xander were wearing their reflective glasses.

"Right, here are the rules for today:

"One: You stay behind me at all times.

"Two: Should we engage the enemy you will phase into the ground and exit the room.

"Three: Should it be necessary you will run and close all the doors behind me!

"Four: You… you aren't going to do a thing I've said… are you?" Xander finished with a defeated sigh.

Harry just gave him a sad smile.

Xander pulled Harry into a hug. "Just remember the primary first rule. 'Don't Die'!"

"I will… Dad." Harry said, using the title for the first time. Xander pulled him tighter. "Just remember rule two."

"God damned smarty pants." Xander muttered as he ruffled Harry's hair and pulled him into the bathroom.

"So, what… 'Open Sesame'?" Xander asked.

Harry shrugged and gave it ago the hissing and sibilant sounds emanating from his mouth.

Xander and Harry just stood and watched as the sink seemed to slide open revealing the cavernous opening.

"Please tell me you didn't just say 'Open Sesame'?" Xander practically begged.

"Ok." Harry shrugged.

Xander rolled his eyes. "Ok, looks, dark, damp and disgusting… smells the same too."

"Do we just jump down, get some brooms or conjure a rope?" Harry asked as he examined the darkness.

Xander looked at Harry as if he was nuts. "We're not two minutes into this mission and you've forgotten one of the first things I ever taught you!"

"What?" Harry said defensively. "I'm not dead yet… am I?"

"Did I or did I not teach you how to fly?"

"Oh yeah."

"'Oh yeah' he says." Xander muttered quietly. "Alright, light 'em up and follow me." Xander ordered as he conjured a ball of light in his hand. Harry had long since gained control over his light spells and managed to create a decent spot light. Xander decided to cancel his little candle as it didn't really add anything to Harry's Lighthouse beam.

The trip down the hole was long, dark and really smelly. They were having serious doubts about the Pureblood claims of Salazar being in favour of the whole 'blood purity' move if he couldn't clean up after his pet… or kept a pet that caused such a smell.

Eventually they hit the bottom of the long tunnel. They cautiously began moving forward. The cave they found themselves in didn't appear to be very strong so Xander and Harry began transfiguring stalagmites and stalactites into support beams in order to avoid a cave in.

Ten minutes later and they came across a huge vault door engraved with snakes. Harry and Xander shared a look and readjusted their glasses and Harry spoke in Parseltongue.

The snakes began to move and slither away as the locking mechanism opened in a fluid motion. The huge vault door began to swing open revealing a huge hall lit by torch sconces.

"Open Sesame?"

"I… er… dropped the 'Sesame'."

"Thank God! I was getting worried about the sanity of Salazar." Xander said in relief.

"You don't think there's anything insane about keeping a pet that can kill you?" Harry asked incredulously.

Xander chuckled. "Never seen a dog attack and kill a human? Not pretty, but highly effective."

The pair began to slowly walk forwards, eyes down and looking for movement in the shadows. There was no point being careless and getting petrified before they got anywhere. Gradually Xander cleared the area with a visual sweep.

"It's clear Harry. You can look up." Xander assured him.

Harry looked around the room taking everything in quickly. Something that Xander tried to teach them as they went for their morning jogs was to notice everything around them even if it seemed innocent.

What Harry saw was a small bundle of black robes at the end of the hall with a streak of red, lying under a hideous statue of a mans face whilst a young man in Hogwarts stood over it.

"Ginny!" Harry cried as he tried to run forwards only to be yanked back by Xander.

"Harry James Potter Harris McGonagall Summers Hogwarts! Have you forgotten everything I taught you?"

Harry looked at him in horror. "Is that really my name now?"

"Well… on paper it is." Xander grinned rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. "Now, what do you see and what did you do wrong?"

"He ignored me as a threat." The young man at the end of the cavernous room called out.

"Do you mind! I'm trying to teach my son here!" Xander yelled back irritatedly. Xander sighed and dragged Harry over to the young man.

"Identify yourself. You are on my property, without my consent and endangering one of my charges." Xander said angrily.

"Your property?" The young man scoffed. "This is the sanctuary of Salazar Slytherin, the Greatest of the Hogwarts Four!" He declared imperiously.

"Sure… so who are you? A Salazar fanboy?" Xander asked with a scowl.

"T. M. Riddle." Harry muttered as he picked up an open book. "Is this yours? Looks like a diary, but it's empty."

"Yeah, he's Riddle." Xander confirmed having seen the boy react. "What have you done to Ginny? Are you responsible for the basilisk and petrifications?"

The boy looked insulted. "Hardly! This useless blood traitor caused the petrifications. I would never have allowed such worthless mudbloods to live."

"Don't talk about her like that!" Harry shouted.

"What did you do to Ginny?" Xander asked calmly though he was seething quietly.

"It doesn't matter. She'll be dead soon. But whilst we wait, I have been anxious to meet you… Harry Potter."

Xander and Harry stiffened.

"Yes, I know all about you from this pathetic excuse for a witch's incessant ramblings. But what I want to know is how you managed to defeat the Greatest Wizard of all time?"

"I never defeated dad!" Harry said indignantly.

"What? No! Not this sorry excuse for a mudblood, Lord Voldemort!"

"Voldemort? He wasn't the greatest anything… maybe the greatest idiot." Xander chuckled.

"Why do you care?" Harry asked. "Voldemort died years ago."

"Ha! The great Lord Voldemort cannot be killed by a mere mortal! I am Lord Voldemort!" Using Ginny's wand Riddle began to write his name in the air, 'Tom Marvolo Riddle'. He then rearranged the letters to spell: 'I am Lord Voldemort'.

"Seriously… you were really struggling to come up with something cool, weren't you. Couldn't even keep it English, had to go foreign." Xander snarked.

Riddle was beginning to fume and turn red. "YOU DARE MOCK THE GREATEST WIZARD OF ALL TIME!" He roared.

"Please, you got taken out by a baby. Then you couldn't even kill him as an eleven year old and now you exist out there as a pitiful ball of spirit. The only thing you are is the Greatest Failure!" Xander scoffed.

"Xander, we need to go quickly. Ginny is really weak." Xander had taught his kids how to check for medical health, pulses, pupils, etc. Poppy had also taught them diagnostic spells and a very useful stasis charm all of which Harry had implemented.

"You take her Harry, I need to finish up here." Xander ordered, never taking his eyes of Riddle.

Harry gave a Xander a look that could only be described as 'You can not be serious!' He did however wave his hand sending Ginny to the Hospital Wing.

Riddle began chuckling. "It matters not. She and I are linked and her life force will be mine and will restore me."

"Not if we kill you first!" Harry declared.

Xander sniffed theatrically. "I'm so proud. My sons first declaration of blood thirsty intent."

"You can not kill me, I am immor-" BANG!

Riddle jumped at the noise only to see Xander pointing a muggle gun pointing at him.

"Yeah, gonna be harder than I thought." Xander said giving Harry a shrug.

"Dad, I'm disappointed in you." Harry said in mock disappointment. "He has to have some sort of weakness." He grinned as he waved the diary at him.

"That's my boy!" Xander declared with a huge grin. "So, fire?"

Harry conjured some fire only to find it had no effect on the book.

Riddle started to laugh. "Soon you will know the full power of Lord Voldemort!"

"Seriously? Do you have to break out the clichés?" Xander asked with disappointment.

"Xander, that's Ginny's wand." Harry pointed out. "But, as he hasn't used it, I'm guessing he can't access his magic yet."

Xander stalked up to a suddenly paling Riddle and snatched the wand out of his hand. "Right, so he can't hurt us and we can't hurt him." Xander mused thoughtfully.

"I can hurt you. Allow me to demonstrate." Riddle laughed evilly.

"Again with the clichés." Xander moaned.

"He doesn't really have the… the… he can't really pull it off, can he?" Harry said with a grin.

"He's young. He'll likely grow into it." Xander said with mocking sympathy. "He probably got really good at it right before you killed him."

"SILENCE!" Riddle roared. He then turned to the huge statue and began to hiss.

"What-"

"Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four." Harry interpreted for the clueless Xander.

"Ah… at least he has the ego to back up the clichés."

The mouth of the statue began to slide down revealing a large dark hole, two gleaming eyes shone out and Xander and Harry began running the opposite way as Harry hissed for it to stop.

"Parseltongue won't save you now, Potter!" Riddle laughed.

Harry and Xander slid behind a pillar panting.

"Right, big fucking snake that can kill us with a look and a book we can't destroy but is likely the only way to save Ginny and kill the dark idiot." Xander scowled.

"Don't swear." Harry admonished calmly.

"You seem very calm about this." Xander remarked.

"Meh." Harry said dismissively. "One of them's a shade and the other's mongoose food."

"Right… we'll discuss this later." Xander said with a hint of worry at his son's blasé attitude. "So how do we deal with these two things?"

They had to quickly teleport to another pillar as the basilisk closed in.

"I think we need more help."

"The last thing we need is more people down here. And we need to find out if there is something to destroy this diary with before Ginny dies." Xander growled in frustration.

There was the sound of a burst of flame and then screeching. They could hear something flying through the air towards them only for Fawkes to suddenly drop the sorting hat on Harry's head with an unusually loud thud.

Harry screeched in shock and pain, he suddenly started swearing his head off.

"Really young Potter. Your mothers will not be pleased with you!" The hat admonished.

"That sounded painful. He's entitled… this time." Xander retorted.

"Why did Fawkes bring you?" Harry asked, his voice muffled as he took the hat off.

"Oh, he's taking out the eyes of that basilisk, grab the sword that landed on your head and it will help you defeat that diary." The hat said with casual indifference.

Harry flipped the hat upside down and stuck his hand in, feeling around.

"Oh! Stop! That tickles!" The hat cried.

"Shush!" Xander hissed.

Harry withdrew his hand with a short sword, almost a ceremonial sword in his hand.

"It's a bit short." Xander observed.

The hat huffed. "It's a magical goblin sword. It will grow as he does. Now quit wasting time and stab the damned diary."

Harry shrugged, tossed the book on the floor and stabbed the sword straight down.

Screams of agony and anger could be heard, causing Harry and Xander to peak round the pillar to see Riddle screaming as his body began to rip itself apart in a display of lights and dark voids.

"Erm… what about Ginny?" Harry asked the hat.

"She should be fine now. The diary was the conduit between them, she'll have some nightmares, but that's all."

"Right, I'm sending you to the infirmary, report to Joyce, Minnie and Poppy on what's happened. We need to deal with the snake." Xander said before he caused the hat to vanish.

This was just as Fawkes landed on Xander's shoulder.

"Snake dead?" Xander asked.

Fawkes shook his head.

"Blind?"

Fawkes nodded.

"Cool, you two stay here whilst I go waste the snake." Xander said as he strode out from behind the pillar pulling his battleaxe out.

Fawkes hopped onto Harry's shoulder and the pair peeked round the pillar, watching as Xander marched towards the angry and blinded basilisk

"He's gonna get smooshed, in' he?" Harry asked quietly.

Fawkes just nodded slowly.

Xander wasn't entirely sure how he was going to succeed in fighting this huge creature, but had a bit of a plan.

He was going to chop it up. A bit at a time, starting with the tail and working his way up.

The major flaw with his plan, was that the basilisk was now thrashing around in pain, anger and confusion. Xander made it to within six feet of the tail before it lashed out hitting him firmly in the chest and sending him flying straight through the open mouth of the statue.

Harry saw this and saw red as he ran charging towards the basilisk screaming in rage. He never noticed he had transformed into his dragon form, he gave into his instincts and began grappling with the huge snake, trying to pin it down.

But Harry's contact with the snake allowed it to find it's own target. Harry found himself struggling to keep clear of the beast's fangs as he tried futilely to pin the writhing and slippery serpent.

Xander meanwhile was trying to shake the cobwebs from his head as he came too.

"That does it! I'm adding a rocket launcher to my arsenal." He groaned.

He cleared his head and quickly took stock of his surroundings. The room was basically an apartment. How the snake fit in here was confusing until he remembered that Hogwarts tended to expand to accommodate Harry's dragon form. There was a desk with potions equipment lying around, books on a shelf, even a bed and a bath.

What caught his attention was the glass coffin in the corner.

Xander noticed this in seconds as he was simply finding his bearings for the exit to finish the snake. Xander would have ignored the whole lot if it wasn't for the glass encased hammer next to the coffin with a plaque in very familiar script in it.

Xander quickly approached the coffin and peered inside. There was a man, approximately thirty to forty years old with black hair and a goatee and moustache.

Best guess said it was Salazar Slytherin. Xander had a feeling he was supposed to be the one to free him as the sign was written in Sumerian. Even Joyce didn't know that language.

Xander sighed and picked up the hammer and smashed the glass.

Harry was definitely in a fight for his life. The basilisk was making full use of the fact that it was limb-less. It was twisting and turning leaving Harry with very little to grip. He absently made a mental note to start training to fight in his dragon form with Norbert. Maybe he could get Xander to take him to Romania again.

Having no experience fighting as a dragon, Harry was attempting to strangle the basilisk's neck whilst biting the back of it's neck. Having no neck to speak of Harry suddenly found himself in immense pain. The basilisk had managed to bite his right fore-leg.

The pain was intense and Harry found himself back in his human form with a fang in his fore-arm.

The basilisk turned towards him, it's forked tongue sticking out and testing the air for him. It hissed in pain from the lack of eyes, the bites on it's back and now the missing tooth. It moved in close and opened it's mouth to swallow the small human boy whole.

"STOP! Came a loud hissing shout.

Surprisingly the king of serpents froze and tilted it's head.

"Just what do you think you are doing, Slinky?" The voice demanded.

"Sally? You're awake? Your heir commanded me to destroy the boy." The snake hissed.

"Slinky, I know you have a long memory and are a lot smarter than that. You knew I would wake up and you knew that you were supposed to protect the students, not hurt them!"

"Your heir said they were endangering certain students. Said it was the only way to save them, to save the school."

"Could I get some help, please?" Harry called out weakly. He couldn't see the speaker, but since they saved him from being Slinky's dinner, he figured they might be able to make him more comfortable before he died.

"Harry?" Xander called out as he suddenly rushed around the huge snake. "Shit!" He cried as he slid down next to his son. He quickly pulled the fang out. He didn't know what to do, he didn't think he would last long enough to suck the poison out, and even then, would that work with magical poison?

His desperate thoughts of saving his son were interrupted by Fawkes landing next to Harry. The bird quietly leaned forward letting its tears heal the wound.

"You'll be fine my boy. Phoenix tears are the only thing to counteract basilisk venom. You are very lucky." The strange Parselmouth commented.

"Thanks." Harry said, feeling much better. "And thank you Fawkes, for everything." He turned back to the man. "Two questions. One: Who are you? Two: Why would you name that thing 'Slinky'?"

"Hey! I was five!" The man said defensively. "As to your first question, I am Salazar Slytherin, Harry. I think you have a general idea of who I am. I know who you and Xander are, but not much about you Harry."

"How?" Xander asked.

"Funny little man who calls himself Whistler. Said I might be needed about now. Suggested the whole stasis bit and the message to you." He grinned at Xander.

"Message?" Harry asked.

"I'm probably the only person within a hundred miles of this castle who can read Sumerian. There was a message by his glass coffin." Xander sighed.

"What did it say?" Harry asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"'In case of emergency, break glass.'"

Xander, Harry and Salazar arrived in the Hospital Wing with Fawkes sitting happily on Xander's shoulder. Harry had the sword and diary whilst Salazar was examining each painting and armour and greeting them and sometimes receiving the greetings of surprise in return.

"SALLY?" Came the cry of shock as Joyce dropped the bed linens she was carrying.

"Hey Mum." Salazar waved cheerily as Joyce ran over to hug her son.

Xander and Harry shared a look as they both mouthed 'Sally' at each other and began snickering.

"Seems fair. He did call his snake 'Slinky'." Xander smirked.

Harry meanwhile was suddenly caught off-guard as Minerva grabbed her son in a hug.

"Damn you Harry! You're going to give me a heart attack one day!" She muttered into his hair.

"Perhaps, some explanations are in order?" Dumbledore called out.

Also in the room where Poppy, Ginny and Arthur and Molly Weasley. Ginny was wide-awake and looking very sad.

Xander just shrugged as he walked over. "Meh. We came, We Saw, We got our arses kicked, we kicked some arse and then we got our arses saved."

"That's… a lot of 'arses'." Salazar commented with a smirk.

"Perhaps a bit more of an in depth explanation?" Dumbledore suggested.

"Fine, give me a minute. I'll be right back." Xander said as he vanished.

"I say! How'd he do that?" Salazar exclaimed.

"Xander can teach you later." Joyce said as she hugged Harry.

A few seconds later and Xander returned with Amelia Bones.

Dumbledore was not pleased. He really didn't want this becoming public knowledge and he preferred to monitor and control what the Ministry learnt. He kept quiet though as he knew Xander would have reported and shown her the memories anyway. He would also likely give an interview with the Prophet.

"First of all, Ginny can you tell us how you got this book and what you remember between then and waking up here today?" Xander asked kindly.

"I-I-I remember finding the book when we got home from Diagon Alley when Lockhart was there. I just thought it was a spare notebook. B-b-but when I wrote in it… it wrote back." She explained shakily as she nestled further into Molly's embrace.

"Ginny! Please tell me you didn't continue to write?" Arthur begged in horror. The look on Ginny's face was enough. "Ginevra Weasley, how many times have I told you not to trust something if you can't see where it keeps it's brain!"

"AHEM!" Came the indignant huff from the Sorting Hat.

"Ah.. yes…" Arthur muttered apologetically.

"Easy Arthur, another time." Minerva soothed. Arthur nodded and stroked his daughter's hair.

"Go on Ginny." Xander encouraged.

"His name was Tom. At first he was nice and would tell me about Hogwarts. But then he… he… he… I lost my memories. I woke with blood on my hands one morning… and on my clothes. I was scared, I heard about Mr. Filch's cat and the writing on the wall.

"Tom said he didn't know about it but said that it wouldn't be smart to tell Madam Pomphrey as she might lock me up!"

Poppy scoffed.

"Fear makes us lose our common sense." Xander assured the young redhead.

"I figured out by the time the Aurors were petrified that I was doing it because those days were the days I couldn't remember. But I think Tom realized I knew because I don't remember what happened today."

"Ginny, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You were hoodwinked by Tom Marvolo Riddle. Otherwise known as Lord Voldemort. Any of us adults could have been tricked like that." Xander said pulling her into a hug from Molly's arms.

"I agree. Even my best Aurors would be tricked." Amelia concurred.

"Perhaps now we could hear what occurred in the Chamber of Secrets?" Albus requested… again. He was getting impatient.

"What's the Chamber of Secrets?" Salazar asked.

"It's what they've been calling Slinky's hidey hole." Xander explained.

Salazar chuckled. "A rather apt name. But I'll explain later."

Xander shrugged and began recounting the tale of how he and Harry made their way to Myrtle's bathroom and down into the Chamber. They didn't bother with much beyond the facts. There were a few growls and gasps though when they explained the diary.

"It's a horcrux." Joyce said. "Or at least a partial horcrux."

"In other words, a soul anchor. When the person dies the object contains their soul. They are then bound in spirit to the mortal plain. They do have a physical being, but it has a limited range from the horcrux." Salazar explained.

"And just how would you know about such… magics?" Dumbledore asked with a frown.

Joyce and Salazar shared a look before laughing.

"What, exactly, did you think kept me here?" Joyce said derisively. "Hogwarts and all it's grounds are a horcrux for my soul!"

"B-B-But that's dark and ancient magic!" Dumbledore sputtered as he drew his wand.

"Hardly. It was created as a means to allow Mum to remain alive… so to speak, so she could fulfil her mission as Hogwarts Guardian." Salazar explained. He was not happy that this old fool had drawn a wand on his mother. "It was so effective that Godric did something similar. Right Rick?" He said smugly as he turned to the sorting hat.

The hat just huffed. "You had to open your big mouth, didn't you Sally." The hats voice had changed and was now deeper and gruffer. Suddenly there was a large burly man standing next to Harry with the sorting hat on his head. He had the body of a Viking warrior and bushy hair to match.

"Ricky?" Joyce squealed as she launched himself at her.

"She was always the favourite… after you." Salazar quipped to Xander.

Joyce suddenly started beating 'Rick' with her hands. "YOU MONSTER! YOU'VE BEEN IN THAT HAT ALL THESE YEARS AND NEVER ONCE SAID HI TO YOUR MOTHER!" She screamed.

"Sweet Holy Moley! If that's how she treats the second favourite, I'm not sure I want the top spot!" Xander cringed.

"Mum! I'm sorry, I needed to stay hidden until Sal awoke. I promised I wouldn't interfere!" Rick whined as he fended off his mother's blows.

"Whistler?" Xander asked.

"Yes. A very disturbing gentleman. I made sure to keep him out of the castle and away from my students."

"Yep… that's Whistler."

"I find it hard to believe that these so called 'Higher Powers' would see Lord Voldemort as a big enough threat to have two… possibly three of the Founders arrive to give aid. He is a threat, but I am sure that with my help, Harry can defeat him. I fail to see why such drastic measures are required." Dumbledore said with a frown.

This caused Xander, Sal, Rick, Minerva and Joyce to stare dumbfounded at the man.

"And by the sounds of things, you never will." Sal commented dryly.

"I don't suppose your sisters will be turning up?" Joyce asked with a hint of hope.

Rick pulled her into a hug. "Sorry Mum, they knew what we were doing, but they also knew they weren't needed. Wanted yes, but not needed. They decided to live out their mortal lives with their kids.

"Now, on with the story." Rick declared as he kept an arm around Joyce and indicated for Xander to continue.

Xander took up his narrative explaining about Tom and his pseudonym. And how the basilisk emerged.

"And what's up with that whole Greatest of the Hogwarts Four deal and the butt ugly statue?" Xander demanded.

"You didn't!" Joyce chuckled.

"Just a childish joke from when we were kids. We didn't have much to do so we played out your adventures as mum told them to us. I always claimed to be the greatest." Sal grinned.

"And the statue?"

"Yes… well… art was never my strong point. I… it's… it's what I thought you would look like."

"Thanks… I think." Xander muttered. "Moving swiftly on…"

Xander went on to explain their dilemma with destroying the diary and defeating the basilisk. Dumbledore's ego rose to the front again when they told of Fawkes' arrival.

"You must have shown me great loyalty for Fawkes to have come to your aid." He declared sagely.

The group shared another look this time before Fawkes leaped off Xander's shoulder and began beating Dumbledore around the head with his wings.

Dumbledore was unable to fend him off and fell to the floor on his butt.

"Fawkes! What are you doing! Have you gone mad you dozy old bird!"

This seemed to enrage the avian even more as it began pecking at his head.

"Fawkes, I think you got your point across." Xander said calmly. "You don't really want to give Poppy more work, do you?"

Fawkes huffed and cawed angrily at Albus before returning to Xander's shoulder.

"Continuing on with our story…"

Xander then told of how Fawkes took out the basilisk eyes. He reluctantly told them of how he got thrown into Sal's apartment before he managed to land a hit. He glared at Sal as he told of the glass coffin and message for him.

Xander handed the telling over to Harry so he could explain what he and Slinky did whilst Xander was… otherwise occupied. Harry also explained how Fawkes healed him. By this point, Joyce and Minerva were squeezing him tightly.

"So you two decided to stick around because Whistler said Harry and I could use your help?" Xander asked the two men.

"Of course! A young boy was in need and we couldn't pass up the chance to meet our big brother!" Rick declared happily.

"Hey! How am I the big brother? You two are definitely older than me."

"Yes, but we grew up on tales of your adventures… hence… big brother." Rick explained.

"You were our hero. After today… still are!" Sal added. "Rick here will be helping improve your physical combat. He is quite the swordsman. I will be helping Harry with his dragon fighting."

"You're a dragon too?" Harry asked.

"I am. You require three things to be a Dragon Shifter. A Parselmouth, extremely powerful and accepted by dragons. If you lack any of those things, you can't shift."

"Will Slinky be ok? He's blind now." Harry asked worriedly. He didn't want to cause his saviour more upset.

"He'll recover. Basilisk eyes can heal. Slinky will be as good as new within a month. Hopefully this will knock some sense into him. That tooth won't regrow, but it serves him right."

"I am afraid the creature must be destroyed. It is far too dangerous to keep around children." Albus said gravely.

"Slinky spent several hundred years in this school and the magical forest. It was a bad wizard that made him kill." Sal said defensively.

"Will he be able to get around ok with his eyes always closed?" Harry asked.

Sal just laughed with Rick. "No lad, Slinky can control his gaze like we control our magic. He won't use it unless in self-defence or under our orders. One day I might help you hatch your own."

"Ok, I think we are done here." Xander declared. "Ginny, if you want to spend some time at home, that's fine with me. I'll be arranging for counselling and stuff as well. Hopefully Amelia can help with that?"

Amelia was still a little star struck and bewildered. She met Salazar Slytherin, Godric Gryffindor and seen Dumbledore's phoenix attack him.

"Amelia?" Xander prompted.

"What? Oh! Yes, of course! Leave it with me and I'll contact you with the details. I may need to see some memories for a report but we can handle that later this week."

Xander and his group turned to head back to the apartment.

"Could I perhaps have my phoenix back?" Dumbledore asked slightly peeved.

It was clear to everyone that Fawkes' annoyed squawk was an incontestable 'NO'.

As soon as they arrived back at the apartment, they were accosted by Luna and Neville demanding to know if they were ok and what happened… not to mention who the two new guys were.

It was clear Harry was very tired. Xander suggested Harry give Luna and Neville the memory so he could go sleep. Half an hour later Harry was sleeping fitfully on a couch in Hermione's room and Neville and Luna had joined the adults. It was only late afternoon.

"So… you two are Joyce's sons?" Neville asked.

The two men nodded.

"And that makes you Xander's brothers?"

"Little brothers… we consider him the eldest." Sal grinned cheekily.

"Hey!" Xander objected.

"Hermione's dad always said you and Harry had the weirdest family tree." Neville giggled.

"Why's that, lad?" Godric asked.

"Xander is the 'son' of Joyce." He said with air-quotes. "But he is the 'father' of Harry. That makes him both brother and father. Which makes you two Harry's brother's and uncles."

"Right. I think I'll just call him 'Harry' then." Sal said in mock thought.


	4. Chapter 16 - Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The spirit of Hogwarts believes that Harry has suffered enough in his eleven years of life and calls in a protector to guide and care for him. Not slash, rating for violence in later chapters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a Repost all words belong to mjimeyg

*Chapter 16*: Chapter 16  
Harry spent a fitful night tossing and turning on his couch in Hermione's room. He wanted her back and well. He wasn't really interested in what the others were talking about, he just wanted Hermione.

Around one in the morning he got up in frustration.

"I want Hermione back." He declared quietly.

Xander had achieved many things thought to be impossible. He could walk through walls, fly without a broom and teleport around the world. If magic could do all that without things like brooms and portkeys then magic would bring Hermione back.

Harry placed both hands on Hermione's sternum. He didn't really know what he was changing. He didn't know what exactly petrification did, but he figured that magic was intelligent enough to help him. After all, he didn't know how a needle was made up or a matchstick, let alone how to change one into the other.

So Harry, with both hands on Hermione's chest, closed his eyes and gently began pushing his magic into her and imagining her awake and happy.

Seconds passed and Harry felt no change. So he turned up the flow of magic. He kept increasing it until he heard a gasp and felt Hermione move… and mysteriously she felt very soft.

Harry opened his eyes and saw a very scared Hermione staring at him.

Harry smiled happily. "You're awake!"

Hermione's memories began filtering back. She remembered the ruddy big snake and the glowing eyes, and then… nothing. "I- basilisk! It got us!" She said. "Harry… what are you doing?" She said with a raised eyebrow as she looked pointedly at where his hands were.

Harry blushed and removed them quickly from where they were very comfortable and now felt… empty. "I was… you were petrified… I was waking you up."

Hermione looked confused at that. "Has it been that long already? I've missed the whole of the school year!" She wailed.

"No! You've been gone only a few days. I woke you up just now - what do you mean the whole school year?" Harry asked. There was less than two months left of the school year.

Hermione blushed. "Sorry, I over reacted. You woke me up?" She asked.

Harry nodded shyly and then found himself stuck in what Xander affectionately called a 'Hermi-hug'. She pretty much hugged the stuffing out of you.

"'Mione… air!" Harry wheezed.

"Hush you." She whispered into his neck, but she did relax a bit.

Hermione then demanded to know how Harry had woken her. Much to Harry's, delight she didn't doubt his story. She did question him on what it felt like, was he tired. Did he use up all his magical reserves.

This led to Hermione teleporting a protesting Harry straight to the infirmary where Hermione led Harry straight to Colin Creevey and demanded he give a demonstration.

"Do I have to?" He whined. "He'll be worse than before if he finds out the 'Great Harry Potter' saved his life. Can't I start with Justin… or even Mrs. Norris!"

Hermione just glared at him. Arms crossed, foot tapping expectantly.

Harry sighed and gave in. Placing his hands on Colin's chest. A minute later and Colin Creevey gasped for air. Harry moved his hands quicker… Colin wasn't as soft and nice as Hermione anyway.

"Not a word Colin. Your parents are really angry with you. You got yourself attacked by a snake. Now stay put." Harry growled.

Harry stomped away from Colin and moved over to the next bed. He went around the room waking people up. He found it very interesting that the girls were much softer and nicer than the boys. He also learnt to move his hands quickly after some very angry eyes.

Hermione, meanwhile had moved over to Mrs. Norris. She was fairly certain she didn't have anywhere near enough power to wake a human. But she did want to try and Mrs. Norris was small enough that she might accomplish it.

Harry had woken the entire ward by this point and was now staring at Nearly Headless Nick and the other ghosts.

"Should be the same theory, Harry." Penelope assured him. "Just put your hand on them or in them and imagine it."

Harry shrugged and found that it took much less power. Seconds later and everyone was shushing the ghosts who were ecstatic at the miraculous work of young Harry. Unfortunately this woke up Poppy who came storming out.

"What in Merlin's… name… how the devil?" She trailed off as she saw all her so-called 'petrified' patients were up and about.

"We blame him!" Penelope grinned as she pointed at Harry, everyone else thought this was funny and started pointing at him as well, even Professor Vector.

Harry started mumbling about ungrateful people and leaving them to rot next time. But Penelope gave him a hug followed by the rest of the girls. The boys settled for slapping his back… or shaking his hand in Justin's case.

Poppy looked ready to throttle the poor boy.

"Harry James Potter Harris McGonagall Summers Hogwarts! How could you be so irresponsible!" She screeched as she began running her wand over him. The other students and ghosts looked on in confusion and amusement.

"Oh man! How do you know my full name?" Harry whined.

"It's in your medical records young man!" She admonished.

"Now everyone is gonna know." He grumped. "And how can you remember all that? I know I can't."

Poppy snickered and then blushed for a second before a thump and a meow was heard.

All heads turned to the sound as Harry ran off. "Hermione!"

They found an unconscious Hermione being nuzzled and licked by a fairly distraught Mrs. Norris.

Harry was holding her hand as Poppy ran her wand over her. "Magical exhaustion. I assume she was attempting to do what you did? At least she had the sense to start small." She declared as she lifted her onto the bed.

"So… she ran out of magic?" Harry asked.

"Indeed. But she'll be fine with a few days bed rest."

Before she could stop him, Harry had both hands back on her chest and glowing. Hermione soon woke up with another gasp.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Harry likes girls." Penelope teased.

Hermione noticed Harry's hands and gave him a questioning look. He quickly removed them and was replaced by Mrs. Norris who was constantly nuzzling her.

"Harry, did you just 'give' Hermione some of your magic?" Poppy asked wearily as she ran more scans of them both.

"She needed it." He said defensively.

Poppy sighed. "No one is to ever try what Harry does without my permission. If any of us tried that we would be suffering with magical exhaustion. Harry just seems to have near unlimited reserves."

"That's what I keep telling everyone." Xander said as he, Minerva and Joyce appeared in the hospital wing. "Damn it Harry, now Minerva has to go visit all the parents again and explain why their children are awake early!"

"Ha! You and Harry are coming with me! We will take each child home to visit and stay if both parent and child wish. Salazar is coming as well. He can explain the dirty big snake!" Minerva scoffed.

"Salazar, Professor?" Penelope asked.

"Oh just show them the memory." Harry sighed. Then he started chuckling. "Then they can watch Dad get tossed by Slinky."

"In the morning!" Poppy declared authoritatively. "I want everyone in bed now. That includes you as well Harry."

The following morning introduced a party atmosphere. Dumbledore announced that the threat had passed. Xander interrupted him and stole his thunder by introducing his new brothers Rick and Sal. He did explain their identities. Xander became a true hero that day by declaring two days off from classes. Being a Thursday this gave them a four-day weekend.

Unknowingly they began a new tradition. The school pensive was set out in the Great Hall with a teacher on duty. Anyone who wanted to could view Harry's memory of the confrontation.

This caused a huge rush and much embarrassment to Xander as Godric took it upon himself to be the tour guide for each group and pick apart Xander's terrible attempt to defeat the basilisk.

"You never go for the tail, look at it. Swishing and flicking all over the place, it's a death trap! The head isn't much better, but the beast will be a little more reluctant in case it gets hurt.

"No, you go for the body where it is touching the ground. That is the safest and most effective route." He lectured.

Sal, fortunately for Harry, held his peace. He knew full well that Harry had no experience fighting as a dragon.

Amelia turned up soon after breakfast in a confused state. She had been so shocked by the tales of yesterday and the return of two of the Founders that she had gone to bed and woken up to believe it was a dream. So vivid a dream that she just had to come back and make sure. She spent the afternoon in Poppy's care whilst Susan explained that this was just a typical day with Xander and Harry around.

That afternoon, Xander took Harry to St. Mungo's to wake up Nym and Kingsley from their petrification. Nym was very annoyed as she and Kingsley became very interesting to the Healers who had never heard of someone being woken up from petrification without the Restorative Potion, which was only available in the summer months due to the maturation cycles of mandrakes.

Xander promised to make arrangements with Sal so they could find volunteers to be petrified and woken up. Harry was not happy to hear he would be spending more time at hospitals, even if it wasn't as a patient. He absolutely refused to come during his holidays, if he was going to be forced to help out some old stuffy men with research they could at least get him out of class.

Over the following weeks, Nym and Kingsley were pulled from the school. Nym had a slightly disturbing discussion with Luna. It was a very frank discussion on her future love life. Or lack of one should she ignore Luna's warnings.

Nym was gone for a few weekends much to everyone's disappointment. Only Luna knew why and she wasn't telling.

The 'secret' behind Salazar's little cubby hole also came out.

"Ah… yes, you see it was a little competition between the four of us." Salazar explained.

"And Sally was the first loser." Godric grinned.

Sal just glared at him. "As I was saying! The competition was that each of us would create an area within or around the grounds or castle. We had to hide it and ward it so no one could find it. The goal was for the others to find it."

"Just how old were you four when you started this competition?" Xander asked suspiciously.

"About 70 odd." Rick shrugged.

Hermione rolled her eyes with Minerva and Joyce whilst the others laughed and snickered.

"Did any of you discover the others?" Harry asked.

"No, Helga doesn't count. She told us hers as she was dying. Cheeky little girl she was." Sal chuckled. "The Magical Forrest."

"She created the Magical Forest?" Minerva asked.

"That she did." Godric said proudly. "Of course, we didn't know she had done it, we thought it was a natural by-product of the magic in the area. She swore on her magic with her dying breath that she did." He said fondly.

There was a few seconds of respectful silence before Neville spoke up. "What about Rowena?"

"She refused to say. Said that as we were going to stick around to meet our brother, he could help us." Sal shrugged. "She was a seer, so no telling what she knew."

"And no one has found mine yet." Godric preened smugly.

Harry looked thoughtful. "I have." He said quietly.

"Oh? Do tell little brother!" Sal grinned.

"It's in your hat. Where your sword was." He said firmly.

"Perfect!" Godric boomed happily. "Absolutely right! My hat was a part of the school and based upon myself. But the sword. That is now your sword. Part of the enchantments on the hat were that only my heir could pull it from the hat. It was actually a suggestion of Rowena's."

"Did Rowena know what and where your rooms where?" Hermione asked.

"Absolutely. She wasn't allowed to be part of trying to find them as her sight and seer abilities already told her. But she did make her own room for us to find." Sal explained.

"The Weasley Twins might know, they know tons of secret passageways." Harry said excitedly.

"Twins huh?" Sal grinned lasciviously.

"Really, Sal? I didn't know you swung that way." Xander grinned back.

Sal's face dropped as Godric roared with laughter. "That was very cruel Old Man!"

"For the record, I am only 13 years old." Xander said snootily.

"That or twenty something… but our memories are over a thousand years old… and that is what we measure by." Joyce smirked.

Xander stuck his tongue out. "Traitor."

"Do you think we could clean up the forest?" Harry asked. "Make it magical again for Helga?" Harry liked the idea of family and quickly adopted the two men as uncles. But only because Xander and Joyce trusted them.

"Clean it up?" Godric asked.

Joyce sighed. "The forest has become infected with Acromantula. A very large and dangerous spider not native to our island. They are tainting the magic of the forest. The Centaurs are hostile towards us as a result. Not to mention the fact that the Magical Ministry deems them as a lower class of being." She spat.

"That's outrageous!" Godric roared springing from his seat, Sal right beside him. "Let's go Sal!" He said as he headed for the door.

Only to find Xander teleporting in front of them. "Sit!" He ordered. Apparently his big brother gig paid off as the two 'older' men sat down grudgingly.

"This is a school full of children. You go and stir up that nest of monsters and they might head this way! The plan was always to go in the summer."

Sal and Godric looked very sheepish.

"Besides, we can ask the Centaurs and fighters from the werewolf village to help, hopefully make it quick and clean."

"Wait… did you say 'werewolf village'?" Sal asked incredulously.

"Why yes. I did say 'werewolf village'… would someone else like to say 'werewolf village'?" He grinned.

He was met with a chorus of 'werewolf village'.

Sal scowled as Godric chuckled.

Joyce decided to explain. "A cure was never found. Some of the infected couldn't make it to secure cells on the full moon and so the disease spread."

"Damnation!" Sal muttered in horror. He then roused himself. "Very well, I have all my notes in my office, I will continue my work on the cure."

"Maybe Xander and Professor Flamel can help." Hermione offered.

"Hermione, I do as well with the chemistry as I do with the math." Xander said with a grimace.

"No, because you're an omega wolf. Maybe you hold part of the cure. Like patient zero."

"Patient zero?" Salazar asked.

This lead Hermione into a lecture for Salazar onto muggle studies on epidemics and outbreaks and how patient zero sometimes held the key to the cure. Salazar was enthralled. For the last few days of the holidays he kept pestering Hermione until she agreed to show him around a muggle library. The summer holidays were likely to be a huge culture shock for the thousand year old man.

It was the day before Draco was due home on the Hogwarts Express. Lucius was settling into his large four poster bed. He had the entire thing to himself as he found it hard to think of his favourite partners with a woman in his bed. If he didn't need her as a beard he would divorce her and take multiple men to his own bed where he was the master. As it was, he was forced to visit the brothels.

He had received word from Draco that the so-called Lord Hogwarts and the boy, Potter, had entered the Chamber and defeated the Dark Lord's soul and the beast within the Chamber.

What was more astonishing was that both Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor had emerged from the mess.

The emergence of Slytherin was disturbing. What would this mean for purebloods like himself. If his Master did return, what would it do for the power structure. Lucius decided it was time for him to call up a few of his Death Eater brothers, don their cloaks and masks and pay the Mighty Slytherin a visit and offer him a place of respect and power in their cause. He was after all, the inspiration for the Pureblood movement.

Lucius was considering taking Draco back to the boys at the brothel just in case he decided he wanted to give it another shot. The boy insisted he wasn't interested but his choice of friends indicated otherwise. Then again, his Master surrounded himself with very few females and he didn't seem to approve of Lucius' secret lifestyle… or he wouldn't if he knew about it.

Lucius settled down under the covers with his long nightgown and sleeping cap. He closed his eyes in preparation for sleep and relaxed.

Lucius wasn't sure if he had fallen asleep and been woken or if he was having a nightmare. There was something ice cold and sharp at his throat. It was pressing firmly and something was trickling down his neck. He didn't dare gulp or open his eyes.

"Very smart, Lucius." A voice growled. A voice he feared. "You can open your eyes if you like, we both know you recognize me."

Lucius saw the angry yellow eyes of Lord Hogwarts glaring down at him. His hand appeared to be gripping a dagger at his throat.

"You made a very foolish mistake. You sent a very dark and dangerous article into my home. You endangered my friends and children. The only reason you aren't dead is because I don't have substantial proof."

Lucius relaxed and the hint of a smirk tugged his lips. It fell when the blade tightened and more liquid trickled down his neck. Lucius was very afraid. He would need to get to St. Mungo's quickly before he lost too much blood.

"We both know that I don't care about evidence and your justice system. I have my own. Remember this warning Lucius, cross me and mine again and I'll end you. And it won't be quick."

Lucius gave a very imperceptible nod, but it was obviously enough.

"Good. One last thing before we go our separate ways. It seems you are not very good to your House Elves. Call them and release them into my service."

That look of defiance returned to Lucius' face.

Xander chuckled. "I hold your life in my hands. Just little bit-" Lucius squeaked as the blade pressed harder and more liquid trickled. "-more pressure and all your worries are over. Are you really going to quibble over some House Elves?"

Lucius deflated and gave another slight nod. The blade released it's pressure and Lucius panicked as liquid trickled faster.

"Better make it quick." Xander warned.

"Dobby!"

The battered elf appeared. "Master calls?" He squeaked.

"I release you from my service." Very slowly, Lucius reached up and removed his cap and carefully tossed it to Dobby.

"Dobby is free?"

"Dobby. Go to Hogwarts and wait for me." Xander said firmly.

Dobby didn't answer, he just vanished.

"Very good, Lucius." Xander mocked. "You follow orders as well as your house elf. No one wonder old Voldemort liked you. Now. I don't want to find out you have other house elves. You can't be trusted with that sort of power. And you wouldn't want me to have to come back… would you?"

Lucius suddenly found himself alone in his bed and his nightshirt very wet. His hand shot to his throat and he leapt from his bed and ran to the fireplace in his study.

"St. Mungo's!" He croaked.

Lucius was nearly choking himself as he tried to prevent more blood leaving his body as he tumbled from the fireplace and into the lobby.

"HELP!" He screamed as he fell to the floor in panic.

Several people rushed over.

"What's the problem, sir?" A healer asked as he ran his wand over Lucius with a frown.

"My throat!" Lucius glared at the man. He was still holding tightly but he could feel the blood trickling down his hand. It wasn't pumping and flowing, but he assumed that was because he had a good grip. He had slit enough throats to know.

"Sir, you're going to have to move you hand so I can see." The healer said sternly.

Lucius paled at the thought and prayed the healer was quick enough and that he wouldn't bleed out on the floor of St Mungo's lobby in his nightshirt.

Slowly he moved his hand away and the healer leapt in casting diagnostic spells. Then he suddenly stopped.

"Sir… what exactly is wrong with your neck?"

"Bleeding!" Lucius hissed as he snapped his hand back in position.

"Sir, there is no wound and no blood. You are, however, very wet." The healer said holding up a finger with water dripping from it.

Lucius was very confused. The healer was a little worried. He put a surreptitious call into the mental care ward and Lucius found himself a guest of the magical equivalent of a rubber room. Which was a room with cushioning spells.

"That was so much fun!" Xander said as he stretched his arms and back. He had teleported straight into the apartment where the kids, Joyce, Minerva, Sal and Godric were waiting.

"What-"

Hermione was interrupted as Xander held up his hand to stop her. He removed his memory and dropped it in the pensieve.

"Have a look and then ask your questions."

There was a mad rush as they all made for the pensieve and vanished.

"Dobby?"

"Yes Master Hogwarts?" Dobby responded as he popped in.

"I want to bind you to my service. My personal service." Xander explained without preamble. "Your duties will include caring for my house and family. Which includes Harry, my son and Luna, my daughter."

Dobby had looked dubious at the first part, but instantly perked up at the mention of Harry. "Dobby accepts!" He squeaked as a bright light shot between them.

"Excellent. Your duties will include making sure that Harry and myself are aware of our appointments and that we have suitable clothes ready. Harry and I will be doing certain chores as we are both… muggle raised." Xander grimaced in distaste at the use of the word muggle, but he didn't want misunderstanding with the house elf at this time.

"Can Dobby still clean and cook?"

"Absolutely. But there are certain things that Harry needs to do himself. His room is his responsibility. He must put his own things away, as must I. But you can make sure it is dust free if you like."

"Yes sir."

"And none of this 'master' crap. You will call us Xander or Harry. If you use our names with respect then you won't need to use the word 'master'. Understand?"

Dobby looked uncertain.

Xander sighed. "Just do your best."

"Dobby always does his best sir."

Xander rolled his eyes. He wasn't going to remind him every time, as long as he didn't call them master he was fine. "Take a seat Dobby. I'll introduce you to everyone and explain your duties to them. They are just seeing what I did to your former master."

"Dobby is asked to sit with Mas-" He was stopped by a growl "Xander Sir?"

"Yes, you are bound to me, yes?" Dobby nodded. "Then that makes you family. Your job is to look after us. My job is to look after you. I seem to be making a habit of taking in the strays these days."

Xander picked Dobby up and the little elf cringed as if expecting punishment. But Xander merely placed the little guy on the sofa. Xander found it amusing as the elf inspected the soft material and how good it felt. Obviously he was used to such things being for cleaning, not sitting.

They were soon joined by the others emerging from the pensieve. Dobby was surrounded by Neville and Harry as they took a seat either side of him.

"Xander… explain the knife. Please." Hermione asked in bewilderment.

Xander grinned and conjured a replica knife. He handed it to Hermione. She began examining it.

"Looks like glass. Maybe diamond. It's very cold. EWW! And wet… is this… it's a blade of ice?"

"Yep. Very good 'Mione. The thing about ice is that if the person can't see what you are doing then all they feel is the cold. The human brain fills in the gaps, and with me standing there all menacing and like… poor Lucius thought I was making him bleed right there." Xander chuckled.

"My God! Your absolutely devious!" Sal said in awe.

"See… this is why you were our hero growing up." Godric agreed.

Xander just squirmed and blushed.

"Dobby!" He blurted quickly. Better to change the subject. Joyce and Minerva were simply chuckling at the pure hero worship of the two men for their 'older brother'. Harry wasn't far behind.

"What about Dobby? Is he staying with us?" Harry asked.

"He is. I have bound him to me. His duties involve cleaning and dusting, but not cleaning up after you. In other words, your room needs to be kept in order by you. He will also make sure we keep our appointments… I can't remember most of mine and Amelia chewed my ear off the other day."

"You made him a slave?" Hermione asked in horror.

"Hermione, you've known me for what… two years or so? Do you think I would treat Dobby like a slave? Do your research on the bond between elf and magical and you will see it is a symbiotic relationship. Only, we can live without them but they can't live without us."

"Then why save Dobby from Malfoy?" She asked indignantly.

"You know why, Hermione. Stop trying to pick a fight. You are stepping very close to implying that Xander would abuse another person." Joyce admonished.

Hermione looked caught between outrage, indignation and embarrassment. But she wasn't going to argue with Joyce. She had a thousand years of experience in all sorts of things. But she wasn't going to give up. There had to be away for house elves to be free and she would find and implement it.

School ended in the midst of so much confusion that Harry, Xander and their close friends and family didn't even realize it was done until they were on the train.

The revelations of the Chamber of Secrets were revealed in the wizarding press. Xander and Harry gave interviews with the Wizarding Wireless Network and gave Luna an exclusive for the Quibbler. The Quibbler became an instant equal in sales to the Daily Prophet.

Salazar and Godric where accosted by the Ministry and various other organizations for their support, information or time.

Having been told of Fudge's attempted framing of Hagrid, they gave the Ministry a short and curt dismissal. Amelia however was very welcome as she began clearing Hagrid's name. Xander set the half-giant the task of getting his wand fixed over the summer. Although he intended to teach him all the things he taught Harry, just to rub it in the Ministry's face.

Nym returned with a serious yet unusual question for Luna.

"Is she hot?"

"Very." Luna confirmed.

This short exchange left the rest of the completely confused as to what they were on about. Xander figured Luna had told Nym she would be getting a girlfriend. Neither female was saying.

*Chapter 17*: Chapter 17  
Albus Dumbledore was becoming extremely worried. Lord Voldemort was somewhere in the world, albeit as a wraith, but he was there and he was looking to return. He had long since predicted the fact that Lord Voldemort would return and it appeared he was getting closer.

It all began with young Harry Potter's first year. Professor Quirrell had gotten himself possessed by the Dark Lord and attempted to get the Philosopher's stone. When that avenue was removed he decided to claim revenge on young Harry. With that, the news that Lord Voldemort was alive, sort of, was revealed to the world. He had tried to keep it from the papers and the public but that blasted Xander Harris had insisted on reporting it to the proper authorities. All semblance of control seemed to have slipped through his fingers since that annoying man and his mother arrived.

He still wasn't convinced that Joyce Summers was, as she claimed, the Spirit of Hogwarts. If she was, then surely she would have revealed herself to him decades ago when he proved himself a formidable wizard of the light. No, she only revealed herself because of a small boy who survived a killing curse. That didn't add up in his book.

This year had brought about some nasty revelations. Young Harry turned out to be a dragon animagus. Although according to legend, there was no such thing. There was however legend of what was known as a Dragon Shifter. Salazar Slytherin made some vague references to it.

Salazar Slytherin, now there was another possible disaster. Salazar Slytherin was well known to be a proponent of the Pureblood movement. Today's modern movement was based on his legend. This would not be good for muggleborns and half-bloods.

There was hope as the man calling himself Salazar Slytherin (and there was very little proof in Albus' opinion) recognized the man calling himself Godric Gryffindor as his brother. Hopefully this 'Godric' would be able to keep 'Salazar' in line.

The most horrific revelations of the year were the horcruxes. Albus had already determined that this was how Lord Voldemort had achieved immortality, but the news that the castle and sorting hat were both horcruxes was beyond the pale. And Joyce Summers and Godric Gryffindor had made some poor excuses about them being aids to helping others was a clear sign that they were not as light as they claimed. There was no way that Godric Gryffindor would have anything to do with such dark and evil magics. No, the man had to be an imposter.

This Xander Harris had taken Harry from his guardians. Albus had placed the boy there so he would be out of the spotlight and under the strongest protections known to mankind… or wizard-kind at least. Albus knew of the hardships the boy suffered there but it was a price worth paying for the boy's life to continue with the added bonus of preventing the boy's ego from growing.

Albus knew that it would come down to a fight between Harry and Lord Voldemort. The prophecy said as much. One of them had to die so the other could die, otherwise they would be immortal. Albus knew this. It was one of the things he had done in his life that he was deeply ashamed of, but knew it was for the Greater Good. He had cast the killing curse at Harry Potter.

It was a few weeks after they had dropped Harry off at the Dursley's. He had snuck into the house and simply cast the curse. But nothing happened. The green light of the spell seemed to be absorbed into him.

This was how Albus knew that both Harry and Lord Voldemort were immortal. It didn't really matter to the Greater Good who killed whom. All that mattered is that one of them died. If Harry died then Albus would be able to kill Voldemort. If Voldemort died, then Harry could live what he could of his life.

Albus believed that the 'power' mentioned in the prophecy was likely love. Or more specifically, self-sacrifice. By sacrificing himself to Lord Voldemort he would void the immortality clause making the Dark Lord vanquishable.

But Voldemort would be harder to kill than Harry. Especially with these Horcruxes. He knew there were more, Lord Voldemort always had backup plans. Albus hated to admit it but Lord Voldemort was far smarter than himself, his power levels were not however and nor was his skill. These reasons where why he was still the only wizard Voldemort feared.

Albus had resolved that Harry would meet Voldemort as soon as possible and regrettably die.

But Xander Harris happened.

The man had arrived from practically nowhere. Removed the boy from his control. Removed most of the school from his control. He had trained the boy in magic that he refused to share except amongst a few. And Albus was not one of those few.

He had somehow charmed or confounded the head of the DMLE and two Aurors and managed to conquer and claim the Goblin Sovereignty. Fortunately, Albus still held sway with the Minister, despite having to compete with Lucius Malfoy's bribes.

To top it off Harris had somehow managed to corrupt and steal his phoenix. It was his symbol and proof that he was the most 'light' wizard alive. Possibly ever. Harris must have known some powerful enchantment to steal Fawkes.

Xander Harris bore special watching to ensure he did not become a threat to the wizarding world.

His most immediate concern was the recent break out from Azkaban. Sirius Black had escaped. Black was one of the many incidents he regretted having to be party to. But his incarceration was necessary for the greater good. He would be a bad influence on young Harry and he needed to be out of the picture. It was most fortuitous that Sirius had provided his own downfall… with a little help from Peter Pettigrew.

But now the fool had decided to break out. But how? And why now? Harry had been at the school and in the public eye for two years now. What had caused the lunatic to escape Azkaban now?

Albus did not know, but he intended to make sure that Sirius Black was either returned to his cell or killed. He was too great a risk to the fate of the wizarding world.

Currently Harry was with Harris in Romania visiting the dragon reserves with Salazar and Godric. Hopefully he would be able to contain the situation before they returned and discovered the truth.

The Weasley family was having a wonderful summer holiday. It was just what was needed after the horrors of the previous school year. Arthur had won a prize draw of 1000 Galleons. They had planned to take the family to Romania to visit Charlie Weasley, but Xander had told them to save the money and that he would cover the whole cost as part of Ginny's and the family's recovery. This led to the Weasley's, the Grangers, Salazar Slytherin, Godric Gryffindor, Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom, Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood and Xander Harris travelling as a group for six weeks to Romania.

The press had a field day.

Harry and Hermione played tour guides as it was their second visit. Ron spent the first week grounded after making rude comments about Hermione being a know it all. He was also threatened with his Aunt Muriel. He quickly learnt to keep his mouth shut.

Harry also introduced them to his dragon friends.

Salazar was given a hero's welcome by the dragons. Dragon Shifters were apparently so rare that Harry was the first since Salazar. The dragon's genetic memory meant they knew exactly who the man was. Much of Harry's time was spent playing and fighting with the dragons. Usually he could simply over power them as he was much larger. But he soon learnt the benefits of skill.

During the second week Xander noticed that Arthur and Molly were far to focused on Ginny and their children. It was understandable in a way. They had almost lost Ginny and all year there was the threat of petrification. Xander gave Arthur strict instructions to take his wife on a private holiday. Molly took some convincing, but as was pointed out, there were two professors, two Founders, two other parents and two responsible older brothers to keep the kids in line. And if worse came to worse, Harry and Sal could have the dragons keep the twins in line.

Ginny definitely improved. She had lost her clumsy star struck stupor around Harry and Xander. She was becoming fast friends with Luna. Years ago, before her mother died, she and Luna had been playmates as they lived a bare few miles apart. With Luna's mother's death and her father's illness that came to a sudden end.

It was the final week of the summer holidays and everyone was back in Great Britain. Xander was furious to find out that there were monsters roaming his school; Dementors. He had stormed the Ministry and demanded their removal or he would raise his Goblin Army and consider it an invasion.

The Dementors were swiftly gone from the lands of Lord Hogwarts, but they remained on the edge of Hogsmede.

Harry was told the story of how Sirius Black betrayed the Potters and killed their close friend Peter Pettigrew along with a whole bunch of non-magicals. The story both angered and intrigued him. After Amelia gave them the report on everything that had happened with Black all those years ago and in the present, Harry asked if he could see all the paperwork. He wanted to know more about his past, there were some things that even Minerva and Remus didn't know.

What really piqued his interest was the Fidelius Charm. It seemed to be the perfect way to hide something. He wanted to know how it worked and what it could be used on. He had some ideas he wanted to experiment with.

The other thing that bothered him was that his parents had chosen someone other than themselves as a secret keeper. He wanted to find out why. Why would you have a secret so important but leave access to the secret out in the open. Everyone seemed to know Sirius Black was the secret keeper.

For Harry, this was just another avenue to learn more about his parents and life before the Dursleys. Even if it was a very dark time with a tragic ending, it gave him a sense of comfort knowing where he came from.

The train ride to Hogwarts was full of speculation about Black's escape. Harry, Hermione, Luna, Neville and Ginny were all riding in the rear carriage. Luna and Ginny wandered off after a while to find their friends leaving the other three waiting for Xander and Remus to return from their patrols. Xander had co-opted Remus as he was considered the most knowledgeable in defence. The other teachers well versed in the area were Minerva and Filius but they had other responsibilities.

Godric was back at the castle assisting Joyce whilst Salazar was helping Nicholas Flamel.

Xander and Remus were making their second patrol of the journey. They were halfway to Hogwarts. There didn't seem to be any problems, most of the students were quite well behaved. That was until the train came to a screeching halt and all the lights went out.

"What the hell can cause magical lights to fail?" Xander asked Remus.

"Many things, none of them good." He said as he drew his wand and cast a Sonorous. "THIS IS PROFESSOR LUPIN. ALL STUDENTS ARE TO ENTER THE NEAREST COMPARTMENT AND STAY THERE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE."

"And that is why I wanted you on this trip." Xander grinned. "Good call."

"I'll go check the front and you take the rear?" Remus suggested, knowing Xander would want to check on Harry.

Xander nodded and the pair made their way. As Xander made it towards the second to last carriage he heard a very familiar scream. Hermione. He teleported straight to the final carriage with his sword out.

There, hovering over his son was a Dementor. Dementors were the first signs of demons he had found in this universe. He could abide a live and let live policy with them as long as they stayed away from the populace. People seemed to find them hard to be around as they made them ill. Xander found no such problems.

This one Dementor had crossed the line. Hermione and Neville were trying to send up shields and teleport away but the affect of the Dementor was far too much.

Xander's sword swung as the magical compartment expanded to allow his movements. Harry was dropped to the ground as the creature's skeletal head hit the floor.

Hermione was on Harry in seconds whilst Xander checked the body. Just as Remus came charging in.

"Is that a Dementor?" He asked in horror.

"Not anymore." Xander growled. His voice had taken on the same timber as when he was in wolf form. He was seriously pissed. "Bastard tried to suck out Harry's soul."

"Sweet Merlin!" Remus exclaimed as he dropped to the ground next to Harry and reached into his pocket. "Harry, come on, eat this. It's chocolate, it counters the effects of the Dementors."

Harry gently roused as Remus with Hermione's help got the chocolate into the weak boy's mouth. Remus held it as Hermione melted it with her wand.

"What was that?" He asked as he gradually grew stronger.

"Dementor. They just committed an act of war. Fudge better have a damned good explanation or I'll be mounting his head next to Quirrell's."

"Why did we stop?" Neville asked. The young boy was still in a ready mode. He was tense and ready for action.

"Dementors attacked the engine first and killed George the driver." Remus reported.

"Shit. Neville, Hermione. I want you to go straight to Joyce. Tell her what happened, I want Sal back here now." Xander ordered.

"I'll get Sal, you tell Joyce." Neville said to Hermione before he vanished.

Hermione gave Harry's cheek a quick kiss and vanished.

"Did Neville just come up with a better plan?" Xander asked.

"Pretty much."

"What the devil?" Sal exclaimed bewilderedly as he appeared with Neville holding his arm. "Xander? What's goin… Neville, did you just kidnap me?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm a kid. No time for me to try and convince you, better for Xander to do it." Neville answered shortly. He was still tense and very upset.

"Sal, the train was attacked by Dementors. The driver is dead and we are dead in the water. Remus and I are the only adults onboard other than Jen the Trolley Lady. I want you and Remus to head through and calm the kids. Make sure there are no other Dementors." Xander ordered.

"Damn, I don't have a sword."

"Will an axe do?" Xander asked as he pulled out his axe.

"Been a while but I'll manage." Sal grimaced. "Come on Remus."

The pair marched off with a purpose.

"Harry, how are you feeling?" Xander asked.

"A bit shaky. Nauseous and very sad." Harry admitted.

"How's your magic?"

"Fine. I only feel physically bad."

Xander knelt down by his son who was still lying on the floor. "Harry, son, I need this train at Hogwarts now. Can you do it?"

Harry closed his eyes. He felt for his magic and reached out.

"Yes, but I'd rather be on top of the train so I have something to see."

Neville and Xander helped Harry up. Harry's limbs were aching and his head was spinning. It was unspoken between the three that Harry was far to weak to be doing attempting this physically, but if his magic was able then it would only be a matter of staying awake.

The three appeared on the top of the rear carriage, the train laid out before them. Harry was feeling more and more tired.

"Put me down, I need to try something." Harry groaned.

"Now is really not the time to be experimenting, Harry." Xander argued.

"Says the man who wants me to teleport the entire train for the first time?" Harry retorted.

"Right… stupid point. Carry on."

Harry sat down crossed legged and felt for his magic. He could feel it as always, instead of just feeling it though, he attempted to breathe it in, to feel it filling his lungs, his stomach, his limbs and his head. He felt the magic flow and imagined it making him more awake and alert.

Harry opened his eyes. "Much better." he grinned.

"Bloody hell Harry!" Neville cried as Harry looked at him.

"Harry, please don't look at us, your eyes are shining worse than your Lumos spell. I think you just blinded Neville." Xander said as he quickly moved to Neville. "Neville, can you get to Poppy?"

"Yeah, not like I am going to walk into any walls on the way." He griped. "I'll get you for this Harry!" He warned as he vanished.

Harry nearly looked at Xander but remembered Neville and kept his eyes forward, the bright white light cutting into the distance like a laser.

"Do you want it at the station or-"

"No, drop the whole thing by the lake. I want the train inside the walls of the castle grounds." Xander said firmly.

Harry took a moment to contemplate the train and his destination. And then they were there. The Giant Squid splashed as the appearance of the large object startled it.

"Nice work Harry. Now take yourself up to Poppy and keep your eyes closed." He ordered.

Harry sighed but vanished without arguing.

Xander teleported back into the carriage and attempted the same charm Remus had on his voice, except he imagined his voice being projected into each compartment instead of being amplified.

"This is Professor Harris. Harry has just teleported the train to Hogwarts by the lake. Prefects will disembark first and assist the other students in exiting the train. First years will remain on the train until I call for them. Carry on."

Xander looked out the window and watched. He was relieved to see the prefects exit; his little spell had worked. He teleported straight to Sal and Remus.

"Sal, can you go and inform Hagrid we are here and grab Norbert. I want the two of you as dragons guarding the students as they head to the castle. Remus, stay on board and mind the children, send the first years off to Hagrid and accompany them when he arrives."

Sal vanished utilizing the methods Xander had Harry teach him. It was quite the turn of events to be taught after many years as a teacher, especially by one so young.

"What's your plan now?" Remus asked.

"As soon as the students are settled in the Great Hall, I am going to get Amelia, Nym and Kingsley. Then I am going to pay a visit to Fudge." Xander said with disgust.

One moment Cornelius Fudge was seated in his living room with his wife sipping a fine brandy the next he was standing outside surrounded by Dementors.

The Dementors were suddenly excited at the appearance of food. They had been forbidden from eating the local populace yet they were removed from Azkaban, the only other source of sustenance. They were ravenous. They quickly began circling.

Fudge scrambled for his wand, only to realize he didn't have it. "I am the Minister of Magic! You will stand down and defend me!" He tried to be firm and authoritative, but he was more like a scared kitten.

There was a deep chuckling from behind him and he spun around. "I don't think they care who you are." Xander said as he walked up.

"We have to run man! These creatures are starving and they will devour our souls!" Fudge pleaded. He was feeling very ill and depressed, the Dementors took their toll with their very presence.

"You maybe. They really don't seem to like me." Xander said with a slight smirk.

"Then it is your duty to defend me!" Fudge squealed.

"Defend you!" Xander laughed derisively. "Why the hell should I defend you?"

"I am the Minister of Magic!"

"And I am the King of the Goblins and Lord Hogwarts. Furthermore, you killed the driver of the Hogwarts express and nearly killed my son."

"I did no such thing!" Fudge cried as he dropped to the floor to avoid a swooping Dementor.

"These friends of yours," Xander indicated the swarm of demons, "attacked the Hogwarts Express. They killed the driver and attempted to suck out my son's soul. They were there on your orders."

"They were never ordered to attack or board the train. They were ordered to watch the train and apprehend Sirius Black."

"Did you order them not to board the train?" Xander asked.

Fudge kept mum, he knew his answer would leave him stranded in hell.

"That's what I thought. Your careless stupidity cost a man his life and nearly cost me my son. Now, I could leave you here to die at the hands of your own weapons, but I have different plans for you. You will make a public apology. You will apologise to my son in person in front of the whole school. You will then apologise to the students and staff. Then you will apologise publically and privately to the driver's family and arrange for sufficient compensation so that you cover the loss of wages that the driver would have earned."

"But he was just a squib!"

Xander growled angrily and Fudge found himself floating up towards the Dementors.

"What are you doing!" Fudged screamed.

"Taking out the trash!" Xander shouted back over the increasing moaning of the Dementors as food approached.

"Wait! I'll do it! I'll do it!" Fudged wailed, the fear of the Dementors being compounded by the fear created by the Dementors.

Fudge suddenly fell to the floor with a crash. Instead of the cold floor of the outdoors it was a table full of food. Fudge was a small man despite his generous girth, the table held under the weight of the Minister of Magic.

Fudge groaned in pain as he raised his head to take in his surroundings. Then he froze in fright. He was lying on the staff table with every student looking at him. Not to mention all the professors, the Headmaster, Lady Hogwarts, Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin.

All he needed to make the evening complete was a photographer.

-WUMFPH-

And there it was.

"I think you came here for a reason, Minister." Came the cold hard voice of Alexander Harris, Lord of Hogwarts.

Fudge raised his head to glare at Harris, but then noticed the cold dead look and decided to cut his losses and get on with it. He gingerly tried to peel himself off the table, he had to be magnetized as every bloody dish seemed stuck to him.

-WUMFPH-

Bloody little shutter bug.

With as much dignity as he could muster (which was none) he cleared his throat and addressed the student body.

"Is Mr. Harry Potter here?" He asked with a near perfect façade of calm.

There was a general muttering and whispering amongst the populace before a young girl stood up and addressed Fudge timidly.

"Harry's not here, sir. He is in the hospital wing after a Dementor tried to suck out his soul."

Bloody great. Now he had to have that announced, as if they didn't all know that the Dementors worked for him.

"I'll go get my son." Xander growled as he leaned into the Minister aggressively before vanishing.

Fudge stood there as the students stared at him.

The seconds ticked by.

They had to have been gone five minutes by now! Fudge checked his watch. No, just thirty seconds.

The stares were getting to the Minister.

Then came the whispers.

The whispers grew into murmurs.

The murmurs grew in to mutte- murmurs were curtailed by a cleared throat from the deputy head.

Two whole minutes passed. One hundred and twenty seconds of standing in front of the future adults of the wizarding world. His career could still be salvaged, but it had a definite shelf life of seven years as the none of students would ever respect him as Minister of Magic.

Xander arrived with the Potter boy and several other students. They just arrived out of thin air without a sound.

Potter was wrapped in thick blankets as if to ward off a chill. This was not good. Fudge could use a few himself after being stuck in that swarm.

Potter was in a wheelchair. Fudge could definitely do with a sit down himself. Not to mention a stiff drink.

Potter had several females with their hands on him comfortingly. Fudge wanted his mummy.

-WUMFPH-

And now he wanted his Blanky.

There was a quiet growl, which Fudge soon realized was coming from Harris. Fudge realized this was his cue.

"Mr. Potter, it is with deep regret that I apologise for the actions of the Dementors earlier this evening. They were not authorized to enter the train. Th-"

"Were they authorized to suck out his soul?" Sal asked with a glare.

Fudge swallowed. They really weren't making it easy. "No, they were not authorized. I am sure it was just a misunderstanding."

"They somehow managed to mistake a thirteen year old boy with a thirty something man?" Godric asked.

"No old man! The Dementor probably walked past whistling a tune and it sucked too hard on the inhale and poor Harry was just nearby." Sal said mockingly.

There were a few sniggers from the students.

"Rest assured it will be investigated." Fudge declared.

"And if it turns out that this 'accident' was your fault?" Joyce asked.

"I- erm- We must trust justice to prevail, madam."

"Personally, I would be more in favour of goblin justice." Minerva commented glibly.

"As much as I am sure the Minister is enjoying this little tête-à-tête, the students have yet to eat." Albus said rising from his seat regally.

"Unfortunately you have a point, Albus." Xander conceded. "I believe you have one last apology to make here tonight and an announcement before you head to the ministry to begin the investigations?"

Fudge stalled mentally for a second as he tried to remember- Ah! Yes, apologise to the students.

"I also, of course, apologise to you the students and staff of Hogwarts for the unfortunate events of today and… erm… oh! Yes! The Ministry will be ensuring that the family of the train driver who was killed today-"

There was a sudden collective gasp from the students and staff.

"Erm… you didn't know?" Fudge asked nervously.

"Of course they didn't know you idiot!" Sal said scathingly. "Why the devil would we tell them that at the dinner table?"

"Ah… erm… yes. I er… apologise. Again. I believe I should leave you in the capable hands of your professors." Fudge said as he wrung his hands.

"Yes." Xander drawled. "Doors over there." He said indicating the large entrance way at the other end of the hall. Past all the students. Who were staring at him.

Somehow Fudge made it all the way without running. He was walking very quickly at one point.

"Oh Fudge!" Xander called out. "I left you a present at the entrance to Hogsmede. Make sure you pick it up."

Fudge was confused. And scared. There was no way any 'present' from Harris to him would be good.

Argus Filch held the door slightly ajar so the man could escape. He was hard pressed to maintain his grouchy demeanour.

"Colin, I won't give you detention or remove house points for that camera if you hand it over now and allow Miss Lovegood to use copies for tomorrows special edition of the Quibbler. You will of course get copies." Xander said with narrowed eyes.

Colin had been warned about using the camera on people without permission. He had spent all summer working hard so he wouldn't have to be held back a year, which would have been embarrassing as his brother started this year. He was also still grounded by his parents. If he got in trouble before the feast even began… his parents just might kill him.

He handed the camera over.

After the feast Xander, Minerva, Joyce, Salazar and Godric headed up to the hospital wing to check on the kids. Ginny had joined the four others as she had grown close to Luna over the summer. They had all spent the feast up in the wing in private to keep Harry company. Neville's sight was easily restored by Poppy and the light had dimmed somewhat in Harry's eyes, but it was still there. It was remedied with a pair of sunglasses for Harry.

"You three feeling better?" Xander asked as they appeared in the wing.

"We're feeling a bit sick." Hermione said weakly. "Poppy keeps stuffing us with chocolate."

"A shame it wasn't Ron who was caught by the Dementor. He would be in heaven right now." Ginny snickered. The boy ate like a horse… a herd of horses. Many a time over the holidays Charlie had complained that they would be kicked out of the country because Ron was causing a famine.

Hermione and Luna joined her laughter, but Harry and Neville were decidedly glum. Joyce and Xander shared a look before Xander sent a mental message to Minerva to take the girls and his brothers elsewhere for a bit.

Soon the two boys were alone with Joyce and Xander.

"Ok, spill." Xander said as he sat down on the edge of Harry's bed. "You two seem to be very down as if the chocolate isn't working."

Neither boy seemed inclined to talk.

"What did the Dementors make you relive?" Poppy asked quietly as she entered from her office.

"Relive?" Xander asked.

"Dementors can make a person relive their worst nightmares or events." She explained.

"Damn." Xander whispered quietly. "Poppy we need counsellors here ASAP, I have a feeling several of the children will be having very sleepless nights."

"I have been working with Nicholas to make enough Dreamless Sleep potion for everyone." She assured him, but went off to make the calls.

"Neville, what did you relive?" Joyce asked. She was familiar with the boys history. There was one defining moment in his life that stood out in his life. The torture of his parents.

"I heard them screaming. And the others laughing as they were hurting them." Neville said as the tears fell silently. "And now they don't even know their own names."

"I think we can look at new avenues of help for them." Joyce said as she pulled him into a hug. "Godric is a master of the mind arts. His hat is part of that. We'll have Godric take a look and see what can be done, ok?"

Neville knew better than to get his hopes up. His whole life his father had been little more than a lump in a bed and his mother was less than a child. He wouldn't expect miracles.

But he took comfort in Joyce's loving hug.

"Harry?" Xander queried his son softly.

"My dad… he told my mum to take me and hide. Mum told Tom to leave me and take her. If he'd gone for me first, they'd both be alive."

Xander pulled him closer. "That's not how it works when you love someone. I would gladly die for you or your friends. I know for a fact that you and Neville would die for each other or the girls. It's part of that stupid Gryffindor personality. When you find someone to love, you will realize that you would die for them."

"What about the other kids? They must have felt it too?" Harry asked.

"There's that Gryffindor selflessness." Xander chuckled softly.

"Please, they all got that from my stories of you!" Joyce chided lightly. "Who was it who dragged a vampire into Master's lair to save a friend? Who stood up to that same vampire to defend his friend despite being outclassed and unarmed? I have a substantial list, so don't you go blaming your brother for that!"

Xander just sighed with a roll of his eyes. "That would be why I never told anyone about them. I still want to know how you know."

"I had my sources." She smirked.

Xander sighed again. "Fawkes." He called softly. He entered by a burst of flame. "Hey, the castle is hurting. The attack on the train by the Dementors has affected these two harshly. It probably had a bad effect on the rest. Do you think you can sing through the night to ease their rest?"

Fawkes trilled lightly before flaming away. His song could be heard throughout the whole castle as he flew around the walls. It permeated the whole area bringing calm and peace to the troubled young minds.

"Get some sleep boys. Stay here for the night so Poppy can give you a dreamless sleep potion if you have nightmares still." Joyce ordered.

Amelia Bones arrived at the castle the next day with Nym and Kingsley in tow.

"Lord Hogwarts, with your permission I would like to permanently assign Auror Tonks and Auror Kingsley to Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry." She requested without preamble.

Xander just shrugged. "Sure. Do they need accommodation?"

"That would be appreciated." Kingsley admitted with a slight nod.

"No problem. We'll talk to Joyce and the boys and find the best place for security."

"The boys?" Kingsley asked.

"Godric and Salazar."

"Ah."

"Xander…" Amelia began hesitantly as she thought of the best way to ask her question. "How did you kill all those Dementors?"

"What?" Nym asked in shock. Kingsley was not far behind.

"Last night that idiot Fudge came barging into my office saying you had kidnapped him and forced him to make a spectacle of himself. He demanded I take a squad of Aurors personally to the edge of Hogsmede to investigate a 'present' you left for him. When we got there, there were about twenty Dementors. All dead. Or deader than they were before. How?"

"I cut off their heads." Xander said simply.

"But the only spells that work on a Dementor is the Patronus Charm or Fiendfyre." Kingsley argued.

"Who said anything about spells?" Xander asked as he pulled out his sword. "Most things die when you remove their head. Worked for Quirrell after all."

"But… how in Merlin's name did you get close enough to do that? The average wizard can barely function within ten feet of a Dementor. They become blubbering messes at the distance you had gotten. Probably catatonic considering there were twenty." Kingsley pointed out.

"Yeah, it was fun to watch Fudge scream and cry whilst they were flying about us." He chuckled.

"But they didn't affect you?" Nym asked.

"Nope. They made the air cold, but that was it."

The three just stared at him open mouthed. Xander began to feel uncomfortable under their gazes.

Amelia eventually shook herself. "Do you think you can teach that?"

"Some how I don't think so." Xander said thoughtfully. "I think it probably has to do with what I experienced back home."

"Such as?" Amelia asked with a hint of hope.

"He's been possessed far too many times. Seen things done to humans that no one should ever see. Faced and defeated demons of pure fear. And he's looked in to the mouth of hell." Joyce said as she walked up behind Xander.

Throughout her speech Amelia, Nym and Kingsley grew paler and paler.

"How the hell are you still sane?" Nym asked with horror and a hint of awe in her voice.

Xander just grinned. "Who says I am?"

"It is no wonder Dementors have no effect on you." Amelia said with pure awe.

"Amelia, won't you, Nym and Kingsley join us for breakfast? I am sure Susan would love to see you." Joyce offered kindly.

"Please, that would be wonderful. I also have business with Lord Slytherin today. If he has the same morals as Lord Hogwarts… it will not be pleasant."

Towards the end of breakfast the Great Hall was swamped by owls delivering the Daily Prophet and special edition of the Quibbler.

Both the Quibbler and the Prophet held the same image on the front page. A Dementor attempting to suck the soul out of Harry Potter just before Lord Hogwarts removed it's head.

Both held the same story of what occurred on the train. The Quibbler held quotes from staff and students of Hogwarts, including Xander, Minerva, Joyce, Sal and Godric.

The Prophet, not having access to the students, had quotes from various parents and pundits.

It was the articles below the fold that differed.

The Quibbler held the story, complete with images, of Fudge's apology.

The Prophet delivered the story of the twenty odd Dementors found dead outside Hogsmede.

"Where did you get these photos?" Kingsley asked.

"The one of Harry being attacked is from Hermione's memory. The others were taken by Colin Creevey. I confiscated his camera, he's not getting it back till he gets home." Xander smirked.

"The parents aren't going to be pleased when they read this." Nym said seriously.

"They already know. I had the werewolves tell the muggle parents last night and the elves tell the magical. All the parents will be entitled to visit their children here over the course of the week. I've suspended classes till next week anyway."

"Smart move on the Were's." Nym remarked. "The Purebloods would throw a hissy fit.

"How is Harry?" She asked.

"Getting there. Last night Fawkes serenaded the castle. He is keeping Neville and Harry company for now."

"Neville? Did he get attacked?" Kingsley asked.

"He was in close proximity to Harry and the Dementor. Both boys have a specific event in their pasts that affects them greatly." Joyce said quietly.

No one needed reminding of what the events were.

*Chapter 18*: Chapter 18  
After breakfast the children were dismissed to enjoy the early days of Autumn whilst the others adjourned to Minerva's office. Where Amelia broached the subject she really didn't want to to Salazar Slytherin.

"You're telling me… that my home… that I still own because I left it to my mother and brother… is being used as a prison?" Salazar clarified whilst barely holding his temper.

"Regrettably… I am." She conceded.

"Absolutely unacceptable!" Sal screeched.

"It's worse than you think Sal." Xander said quietly. "They have those Dementors as guards there."

Sal suddenly developed a twitch in his eye.

"If you will excuse me, I need to get Harry. We are going to go and reclaim my home. Xander, would you care to join us?"

"Lord Slytherin, I completely understand your anger, but I beg you to wait until we can at least make other arrangements for the prisoners. Some are extremely dangerous." Amelia said anxiously.

Sal was growling and his eyes were glowing red. He had a tenuous grip on his anger but was on the verge of slipping to his dragon form.

"Did you two know about this?" He asked turning on Joyce and Godric.

Joyce nodded sadly. "Yes, but we were helpless. We are both technically dead. Until Xander arrived, we had no control over even Hogwarts legally."

Fawkes suddenly flamed into the room and perched on Xander's knee, staring into his eyes. A slow smile spread across his face.

"Sal, Amelia, new plan." Xander said decisively. "Amelia, you will go to the prison and remove the human guards. My goblins will take control of the prisoners and remove them to the goblin mines until something can be worked out. Then Sal and I will lead a party to cleanse Azkaban. Amelia, you have two hours."

Amelia knew better than to argue with Lord Hogwarts. It was the same look he got when there was a threat to his family or the children. She'd seen it last year with the Basilisk.

"I will do what I can my Lord, but I don't have that kind of authority. I will raise the alarm and hope for the best." She said before taking her leave.

Xander turned to Godric. "Go and get everyone suited up that can manage this fight. Minerva and I have a little project to complete with Fawkes before we leave. We'll meet at the entrance hall."

Sal, Godric and Harry were surprised to see Neville standing happily with Xander. Fawkes was perched on Neville's shoulder practically bouncing with happiness.

"Neville's coming? He won't be in danger will he?" Harry asked worriedly.

"He's going to be the least endangered of all of us." Xander said with a smirk that Neville seemed to share. "Shall we?"

That afternoon when the group returned to Hogwarts, they found the others all waiting for them. Xander was still smiling smugly, but Harry had joined them. Sal and Godric looked like Nym did when she returned from her first outing with Xander.

"What did he do?" Joyce asked with narrowed eyes at Xander.

"You didn't tell them?" Xander asked Minerva.

"I thought you might want to show them the memories." She smirked.

Twenty minutes later and they were all sitting back in the room. They were pretty shaken.

"You're a Phoenix animagus?" Shack asked shakily.

Neville was still smirking away. "Nope, I'm a Phoenix Magimagus."

Hermione was looking thoughtful. "Doesn't that make you immortal?"

"According to Fawkes, yes." Xander confirmed. The aforementioned Phoenix trilled from his new perch in the apartment.

"And Fawkes knew that Neville would be a Phoenix?" Godric asked.

"That's what he told me when he appeared earlier. Said Neville was ready for his transformation and that once the change was complete he would take over his training."

"Oh Merlin. I need Firewhiskey." Amelia groaned.

"I have some in my office, I'll be right back." Minerva offered only to stop as Dobby appeared with beverages in hand.

"I wonder what I'll be." Hermione mused.

"We can find out at Christmas. You keep up with your meditations and Minerva and I will have the potion ready." Xander promised.

Hermione practically bounced around the room in glee.

Minerva began pouring the Firewhiskey. Shack and Nym both declined.

"We're technically on duty." Nym explained.

"Like hell you are." Amelia declared. "After today's revelations consider yourselves on leave for the rest of today and tomorrow to get yourselves settled. It's not like you will have set hours, you will just need to be available as needed."

Harry and Neville were still on their high after their successful destruction and liberation of Azkaban. It took them a while to calm down. Deciding to follow the tradition, they provided memories for the students so they could see what had happened. It would save pestering questions when the news hit the papers.

Neville was a new celebrity and gave a demonstration of his new form. After dinner, Albus approached the group.

"As you have your own Phoenix would you please be so kind as to return mine." He asked tightly yet politely.

Xander sighed. "That's the problem Albus. You seem to think you can own a Phoenix. You can't. They choose their companions and Fawkes has chosen us."

The group had left with very disappointed looks on their faces. Albus Dumbledore was not as great as he was made out to be.

Xander was surprised to be called into Minerva's office three days after the students arrived to find a nervous Hermione Granger sitting opposite her.

"So… the twins turned you to the dark side?" He asked with a grin.

Minerva scowled at him. "Sit down Xander, we have something that needs to be discussed."

"Student, School or personal?"

"Student. You are here because Dan and Emma appointed you Hermione's guardian in the magical world. Normally that responsibility falls to the Headmaster… but neither Dan nor Emma trust Albus further than Luna could throw Hagrid." She said sternly.

"Can't blame them." Xander shrugged. "So, what's the what?"

"Young Hermione has asked to sign up for all the available electives."

Xander frowned in confusion for a moment. "She can't take the classes as some run simultaneously."

"There is an option for the more studious and ambitious students." Minerva offered calmly. "A Time Turner. It allows the user to travel back in time for a set period and essentially be in two places at once."

Xander blinked a few times at that. "You want to give a thirteen going on fourteen year old the ability to travel through time in order to take extra classes?"

"It has been done before, not often but, yes." She admitted.

"Well…" Xander cleared his throat and sat up straight. "If I may be so bold, but… Hell no! Let's just forget the whole can of worms that time travel opens and stick to the common sense everyday stuff.

"The more times she uses it the shorter her life span on the linear timeline. The more time she spends going back is less time she will be resting for every hour she is awake.

"That said there are three things in the universe you do not mess with, under ANY circumstances:

"One, Death. Joyce and I can give you plenty of horror stories about all the crap that messing with death got us, her knowledge and experience of it is the only reason I trust her judgment regarding the horcrux deal.

"Two, Time. Doesn't matter whether you are reversing it, speeding it up, skipping it or freezing it… bad things happen.

"Three, My Twinkies. 'Cause that's just cruel."

Minerva was getting paler and paler as Xander went on, she was so shocked by what Xander was pointing out that she even failed to respond to his third item.

Hermione however was getting more and more upset and indignant.

"I can handle it! I'll be careful!" She argued.

"Hermione, this has little to do with you and our opinion of your responsibility… which, for the record, we think highly of, this is about man messing with things they shouldn't." Xander said kindly but firmly.

"But-"

"No Hermione. Your parents wouldn't approve in the first place, in the second place I can't approve as one of the heads and owners of this school.

"If you want to take all the classes you can pick certain subjects to study in your own time and we will arrange for you to take the exams. Besides, it's a much more impressive feat to accomplish what you want within normal time than to cheat and have to twist time."

Minerva was in awe of how Xander played the young girl like a fiddle. He argued her into a corner with logic and then garnered her respect and cooperation with a fine-tuning of her ego. Clearly he was a master. She had obviously never met a young Willow Rosenberg.

The issue was settled.

By the following week classes had restarted. The big surprise of the year was that Hagrid had been appointed the Professor for the Care of Magical Creatures classes. Which explained the rabid textbooks.

He started off with a bang by introducing the class to a Hippogriff. A stunning creature on looks alone. Hagrid, using Harry as his example, showed them how you needed to be respectful of the great creature. The demonstration ended with the class watching Harry and Buckbeak, the Hippogriff, fly around the lake.

Draco then proceeded to demonstrate how dangerous Hippogriffs could be by demonstrating how stupid he could be.

Harry was pouring over the information about his parent's death. Amelia was having trouble finding the trial records for Sirius Black, she was still looking.

There was something that bothered Harry. No one had offered to take him to see his parents home. Or their graves. He asked Xander if he would take him, Xander agreed of course, they just needed to find out where this Godric's Hollow was.

Godric was surprised to learn that Godric's Hollow was what they called the magical village he created. It didn't have a name a thousand years ago. It was just The Village. He did feel quite honoured.

Harry, Xander and Godric decided to ask Hagrid where the Potters had lived. The house number and location.

"Ah… right. Thing is, I can't tell you." Hagrid admitted awkwardly.

"Can't or won't?" Godric asked.

"Oh! No, definitely can't. I would love to tell you, especially for Harry." He assured them quickly.

"But you said you picked me up from there, even saw Sirius Black there." Harry argued a little heatedly.

Xander placed a calming Harry's shoulder. "Can you explain?"

"A bit." Hagrid said as he sat down wearily. "I go there every year and lay flowers, even done a bit of clean up. The thing is, they went into hiding and had the Fidelius Charm cast on their home."

"I read that in the reports." Harry said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, but I guess you don't know what it does." Hagrid sighed. "I dunno the details, but it hides the area and makes a Secret Keeper who knows the location and can tell others the location."

"And Sirius Black was the Secret Keeper according to the reports." Harry said in realization. "So he told you the location."

"Yeah, was a bit weird though. He came up to me and handed me a piece of paper with it on. Would have been easier if he'd just whispered it, my reading ain't the best you know." Hagrid said uncomfortably.

"You don't have that paper anymore?" Godric asked, Harry looked up hopefully.

"Sorry, Harry, Sirius ate the damned thing. Right ol' laugh he was. Could have used the incineration charm but he had his funny little ways." Hagrid gave a humorous little snort.

"I wonder if there is a way to cancel the charm." Godric mused.

"Should ask Professor Dumbledore that. He's the only one I know who could cast it." Hagrid said eagerly.

Dumbledore was very closed when it came to the Fidelius Charm and the details of the events. This made Xander and Godric suspicious but also made Harry angry as all he wanted was more of a connection his parents.

Harry asked Xander to get him all the books he could on the Fidelius Charm. Godric took them down to the resident Charms Master: Filius Flitwick.

"Ah yes, quite understandable that you would want to know about that little spell." Filius said with a sad smile. "Lilly was one of my favourite students. We found it amusing how your father would chase after her. Took him till their seventh year to get her to crack!" He laughed.

"Why haven't you told me these stories?" Harry asked with a little hurt.

Filius raised a surprised eyebrow. "Why Harry, you never asked!"

"Oh." He said sheepishly.

"I'm quite sure that even Mr. Filch would have some stories to share… although they would likely be more about your father. He got on Argus' nerves often enough with his pranks." Filius giggled.

As much as Harry was anxious for more of his parents, he wanted to know about the charm. If he could break it he could see his home. Visit his parents.

"The charm sir?" He asked respectfully.

"Yes… The Charm." Filius sat down and indicated for the three to join him. "The Fidelius removes all knowledge of the subject you wish to hide from existence. This includes all written information and memories. In all honesty, it has the potential to be very insidious if miss-used."

"It alters reality?" Xander queried.

"It does. It is so powerful as to affect every living thing on the planet. The Secret Keeper is the only one truly immune. They are never affected by the spell and as a result they retain the knowledge. This leads to them being the anchor point for the hidden thing to our reality."

"Sounds very reckless to use something like that. It could have the potential to destroy the world." Godric said seriously.

"How?" Harry asked.

"Because the hidden element is not just hidden from sight, but physically moved into what could be referred to as a 'Pocket Dimension'." Filius explained. "It no longer affects our world, much like certain containers that allow you to carry more than you should."

"Why would that destroy the world?" Harry asked.

"Imagine if you could cast the charm on a volcano." Xander offered. "The volcano ceases to exist in our world. The lack of all that heat would have an instantaneous effect on the world. We could be thrown straight into an ice age."

"Even something slightly more benign like hiding the Ministry of Magic!" Godric added. "All the documents stored there would be inaccessible and could cripple the British Wizarding World."

"Ok, so it can be used for evil." Harry conceded. "It was used here for protection. So it has a use for good."

"True. But at the same time it had it's risks. The Secret Keeper has to be trusted otherwise the charm is useless. Much like Sirius Black was." Filius said with disgust.

"Why didn't Mum or Dad be the Secret Keeper?"

"That… I can't answer. But it is the logical solution. I am the secret keeper for my own house." Filius admitted.

"Can anyone cast the charm then?"

"Not really. It all depends on the level of exposure the object you are hiding has had. If you were to go to a remote island that no one had discovered you could easily hide it because the spell would have very little work to do. If you tried to hide the Ministry of Magic, it would take a phenomenal amount of power. Even having seen what you can do, Harry, I doubt that even you could pull it off."

"Is there a way to break the charm?" Harry asked hopefully. "So I can go to my parents house?"

Filius sighed sadly. "The only way I know of is for the Secret Keeper to give you the secret or declare the secret invalid."

"Cool, all we have to do is grab Sirius Black and make him blab." Xander declared confidently.

They all just looked at him. Filius then shrugged. "Considering all I've seen him do, I can't find it in myself to doubt him."

Harry continued studying the charm with an almost religious fervour. He wanted to visit his home. Eventually that all changed. He still studied like he was a cloned copy of Hermione, but it seemed there was an even greater sense of urgency. Luna seemed to know what it was about, but she wasn't telling. She said Christmas would reveal all.

The first Quidditch match of the year turned to disaster when Dementors stormed the pitch, straight for Harry. He was prepared for them though and dropped his broom in mid flight as he shifted to his dragon form. The world was free from just a few more Dementors. Salazar also shifted and called for Norbert, they were joined by Fawkes and Phoenix Neville and the quartet abandoned the game to go Dementor hunting.

Xander was very pissed as no one thought to bring him.

Remus decided to add some extra training to Harry and his friends regular defence lessons. The Patronus Charm. Harry seemed to be like catnip to Dementors so it would be best if they knew how to cast it. Especially as it may not be possible for Harry to transform if the Dementors got inside a non-magical building.

The first Hogsmede weekend arrived and Harry, Neville and Hermione were excited to be leaving the castle. Granted Harry was often out of the castle with Xander, but this time it was for pure recreational reasons.

Ginny and Luna were left to fend for themselves. Which meant they would spend the day pestering Hagrid to let them play with Buckbeak or take them to see the unicorns. The poor man had no defence to the double barrel puppy dog pout.

Harry had a hard time dealing with a new revelation from Xander. He was dating Nym. Apparently she had pounced on him and declared he was taking her on a date. That date had turned into a second date and here they were on a third.

Joyce had carefully warned him that the 'Third Date' rule had no meaning in Britain. Especially at the present time. This was fine by Xander as he wasn't looking for anything in the first place but was happy with what he got and did like Nym.

Hermione, Luna and Ginny had looked on with sappy sighs. Joyce and Minerva with quiet approval. Godric and Sal with surreptitious nudges and winks. For which they were cuffed round the back of the head by Joyce.

Harry, Hermione and Neville thoroughly enjoyed their trip into town. They visited all the shops and sampled some Butterbeer. They also got to watch as many a third year boy got their first glance and encounter with the ravishing Madam Rosmerta. They all had a good laugh.

"So why aren't you two affected by her charms and beauty?" Hermione asked her two friends.

"Because we've got plenty of that here." Harry said with a small smile at Hermione causing her to blush, she also gave his cheek a quick kiss. This caused Harry to blush and Neville to smirk. Then Harry got an evil smile. "See, clearly I'm charming and beautiful enough for you."

This earned him an indignant huff and a slap on the shoulder whilst Neville laughed his head off. Hermione then decided to make Harry pay and began tickling mercilessly.

The trio headed back to the castle, but Hermione had yet to let go of Harry and Harry was unconsciously returning the gesture. Neville was trying hard not to snicker at them.

They met up with Remus on the way who raised an eyebrow but said nothing after a surreptitious shake of the head from Neville. Remus offered to show them what his parents got up to in town the next time.

As Halloween approached, Xander and Nym were out of the castle more during Nym's off time. Luna and Joyce were ecstatic that Xander was finally enjoying his life and not just living from battle to battle.

Harry and Hermione were still spending time in close proximity to each other. Hermione was taking full advantage of it but Harry was seemingly unaware of what was happening. He simply enjoyed Hermione's presence.

Neville was watching this with the others. The others were willing to be patient and wait for the two teens to grow comfortable with each other, but Neville was a little more impatient and decided to confront Hermione.

He managed to corner her in the library during one of her study sessions for an extra class she was taking.

"You do realize you will have to openly explain to Harry how you feel about him… don't you?" He asked pointedly.

"I honestly don't know what you mean." She declared primly before turning back to her books.

Neville closed her book and looked at her with narrowed eyes as if to say 'Yes, and I'm Merlin reincarnated.'

Hermione tried to look innocent.

Neville slightly raised his right eyebrow to mean 'You really think that'll work on me?'

Hermione blushed and ducked her head.

Neville rolled his eyes implying: 'GOOD GOD GIRL GET A GRIP!'

Neville had mastered subtlety.

Hermione sighed and caved. "Why do I have to do it? Harry's the boy!"

"Harry, doesn't have a clue about relationships and romance." Neville pointed out.

"Of course he does." She argued. "He's been watching all those movies with romance."

"Yes, but he doesn't realize that romance can exist outside of a movie. Haven't you seen how confused he is about Xander and Nym?"

Hermione thought about that for a second. Harry was very naive about many things in life. Xander's method of filling the gaps with movies was working, but there were things that Harry had trouble relating to in real life. Then she had a horrific thought.

"Do… do you think he knows about sex?" She whispered.

Neville paled. He knew what sex was. He remembered being so thankful he wouldn't have to see his Uncle Algie for a whole year after that particular discussion before his first year.

Hermione and Neville's eyes snapped to each other before they both called out for someone mentally.

Xander and Joyce both appeared in the library as Hermione cast a small privacy charm. Xander was looking decidedly… rumpled. His hair was a mess, his shirt was missing a few buttons and… he was flying low.

That last one was fixed when Hermione informed him tightly. "Your fly is undone."

Xander looked embarrassed as he quickly zipped up. "Thanks 'Mione." He said with a slight snark. "Remind me to teach you the appropriate code phrases for incidents like that."

"Hush up Xander. You can get back to Nym shortly, I'm sure they had a good reason to call us here." Joyce smirked as she sat down.

Neville decided to forego Hermione's inevitable embarrassment and get to the heart of the problem. "I was telling Hermione that she would need to explain their relationship to Harry as he has no idea that romance can exist outside of movies. Then she had a thought… a very telling thought- OW!" Neville shrieked slightly as Hermione whacked his shoulder, fortunately the privacy charm held. "Anyway, have either of you ever told Harry about sex?"

"I assume you gave the talk Joyce?" Xander asked.

"Me? You're the father! I'll have to give it to Luna, which I probably should do." She mused, and then winced.

"So… I have to give 'The Talk'… to a boy?" Xander grimaced.

"You've given it to girls?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Of course! I wasn't just collecting and training young girls, I had to raise them as well." Xander said wistfully.

"You miss them?" Neville asked.

"Absolutely. I was their uncle of sorts. The one you get sent to live with when mum or dad gets sick." Xander said, then shook himself. "Ok, I'll give him the talk, but you need to have a talk with him too." He told Hermione.

"You will also need to hold his hand through all of this relationship business. He doesn't have a clue how it supposed to work so don't get angry if he messes up, just explain things to him. You might just permanently break his heart otherwise." Joyce warned.

"Nice mom. No pressure then." Xander grinned. As Hermione looked very worried.

"Well it's not like we intend to leave you to handle all of it on your own. Feel free to ask us to step in if you don't think you can deal with something better than one of us could… or a man could." She said nodding with a grin at Xander.

Xander's talk with Harry left him… scarred for life. His life with the Dursley's, Quirrell, the Tom Riddle Horcrux, they all paled in comparison.

Hermione's follow up talk with Harry left him utterly confused. Fortunately Xander was busy elsewhere and Nym was able to help them out. Her special brand of bluntness seemed to be just the thing Harry needed.

Over the following days Hermione, with Nym's help, managed to help Harry get used to the concept of a relationship. There had been a few days where Harry had reverted slightly to flinching from Hermione's touch, but he quickly overcame it.

Harry gradually came to appreciate what he had in Hermione. Neville was quick to assure him he didn't feel like he was being pushed out or replaced. And that he didn't require hugs to make him feel more a part of things, especially not hugs from Harry.

Soon enough October rolled around. They didn't celebrate this time as Harry fell into a funk when he began to think more about his parents and their hidden home.

They all took part in the Halloween Feast and Harry was able to relax and forget for a while. Xander had surprised everyone when they arrived in the Great Hall. The four tables were now gone and there were now two large tables . Xander informed them that this would be the norm from now on except during the Welcome and Leaving feasts. He was tired of the house divisions and decided to try and break them down. Godric, Sal and Joyce were ecstatic at the idea.

That night though alarms sounded through the castle. The Fat Lady had been attacked.

Xander, Nym, Sal, Joyce and Albus arrived at the Gryffindor entrance. Godric was with Harry and the others. Minerva and Kingsley were organizing the other professors to guard the house dorms.

"Pat, what happened?" Joyce asked with concern.

"It was him! Sirius Black!" She hissed in fright as she peaked from behind her frame.

"How'd he get in?" Sal wondered allowed.

"I don't know, but if he is trying to get in here then he is likely after Harry." Joyce growled.

"I… don't really think so." Xander mused. They looked at him as if he was nuts. "Think about it. Everyone knows Harry lives with me. He is clearly smart enough to breach the castle walls so he must know Harry doesn't live in the dorms.

"And this is part of the reason why I made it publicly known where Harry lives, so any attempts on his life wouldn't cause others to become collateral damage."

"Does Harry know about this?" Nym asked curiously.

"Sure. I knew he'd approve first time I met him. He had just selflessly taken on a twelve foot troll with his bare hands to save a minor friend." Xander grinned.

"I think I should activate the castles defences. It means I will need to be reabsorbed into the castle and be unavailable, but I will be far more aware of what happens in me." Joyce said seriously.

"I don't think that is needed yet." Xander mused. "You are for more valuable like this. This was an incursion by a single person. So… actually yes, if you can do it and lock the castle down, then do so. We will have Harry and Minerva move the students to the Great Hall via teleportation and have the armour sweep the castle.

"Sal, round up Hagrid, Slinky, Fang and Fluffy and begin patrolling the outside. I'll send Neville and Remus to get the werewolves and Centaurs to help."

As Joyce faded away the castle began to seal itself. Doors didn't just close, they bricked themselves up, the same with the windows. All the secret passages sealed up as well. The castle was locked down tight.

Xander sent the others off to see to their assignments and was about to head off when the portrait swung open and the Weasley twins stumbled out breathlessly.

"Xander!" Fred cried in relief.

"We found Black!" George exclaimed.

Xander just looked at them. "Seriously?"

They both nodded before George produced a piece of parchment.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." He said as he tapped it with his wand.

"This is a map we found. It shows the castle and the location of all the people in it." Fred explained.

"Ah ha! Here he is. He's trying to use the passage to Honeydukes." George declared triumphantly.

"Sweet. Leave the map with me for now. Get back inside and stay put. Harry and Minerva will be round to teleport you all to the Great Hall shortly." Xander called over his shoulder as he began running.

Sirius Black had failed the most important mission of his life. Taking care of his godson. In a fit of white hot rage he had tracked and confronted Peter Pettigrew only for the little rat to kill the innocent bystanders and frame him.

It was actually a truly cunning act. One that Sirius had a grudging respect for. But the rodent would pay. He longed to feel the rats neck snap between his canine jaws as the blood ran through his fur.

Having seen the rat in a photo in the Daily Prophet he knew the traitor was too close to Harry, he had to do what he failed to do all those years ago. So he broke out of Azkaban and began tracking the bastard.

But he had failed this too.

His only option was to flee the scene and regroup. But the exits were blocked. Completely bricked up. Which wasn't possible because he had entered the castle not twenty minutes earlier through this very passage. He could hear someone approaching, heading right for him. They were rushing and Sirius knew he had been discovered. He was in his canine form, maybe they would just think he was an errant stray that had wandered in from the cold.

Suddenly a tall dark haired man with yellow wolf eyes skidded around the corner with a sword in one hand a muggle gun in the other. Lord Xander Harris of Hogwarts. Sirius was fairly certain he was screwed. He had heard of this man since he escaped. He heard that he had shut down Azkaban and given the prisoners to the goblins. He also heard what he had done to Quirrell.

He really hoped Lord Hogwarts would think him a stray.

Then the man consulted a very familiar piece of parchment and his hope died.

"So, Sirius Black." Xander said.

Sirius sighed and flowed into his human form.

The next thing Sirius knew his world went black.

Sirius woke up to find himself in a dark cave with bars at the entrance. There didn't appear to be a door to his cave and the bars were close together, not enough room for his dog form to squeeze through.

There were goblins walking past outside his cell.

"Black is awake. Bring his food and alert our King." One goblin said dispassionately.

A few minutes later and Sirius was tucking into the best meal he had had in thirteen years. He figured he would be dead soon so he was going to enjoy this.

He was just tucking into his chocolate ice cream when a voice interrupted him.

"Might want to slow down. You'll make yourself sick."

Sirius froze and slowly looked up to see Lord Hogwarts standing there watching him. He did not look happy.

"For the record, that is not your last meal." Xander told him. "It's a taste of what I will allow you during captivity provided you answer some questions truthfully."

Sirius perked up at that. "You actually want the truth? You'll let me do it under veritiserum?" He asked excitedly.

His attitude caused Xander to frown. He had expected a belligerent and angry fanatic who would rant about his accomplishments, make various threats but refuse to cooperate.

What he got was an almost hopeful innocence.

"Erm… what?" He asked, somewhat at a loss.

Sirius thought for a moment. Staring at his ice cream. Then he picked up his tray and slid it towards the bars and Xander.

"I'll make you a better offer. You can keep your food and if you grant me two requests I will swallow a whole damn bottle of truth serum for you." He grinned.

"The requests?"

"First, you must go straight back to Hogwarts and retrieve Ronald Weasley's pet rat. Be very careful as it is an animagus named Peter Pettigrew."

"Didn't you kill him?" Xander asked.

"He faked his death when killing the muggles to escape me." Sirius growled.

Xander raised an eyebrow but didn't respond otherwise. "Second request."

"A trial. A very public trial. Without Albus Dumbledore as the judge and with veritiserum and memory testimony." He said triumphantly.

"I can try, but it may have to be a goblin trial. I have no real control over the Wizengamot or the Ministry of Magic." Xander offered.

"As long as it is public." Sirius agreed.

"What is the trial about?"

"My innocence and Dumbledore's guilt in framing me." Sirius growled.

"What?" Xander asked incredulously.

"You might want that veritiserum if we are going to cover this now." Sirius sighed.

*Chapter 19*: Chapter 19  
It was the day after Halloween and everyone was having an extra long lie in and the day off. Despite the drama of the previous night, the danger was now gone and the fear had dissipated to be replaced with excited gossip. With the building locked down and Harry, Neville and some of the professors guarding the children in the Great Hall, the other professors swept the building with the Marauders Map. Remus Lupin had seen it and confessed his part in its creation.

Xander had simply stunned and grabbed Black and teleported him straight to the Goblin cells and left instructions for him to be well fed and to alert him when he woke.

Having had a most surreal moment with Black in which he seemed to disprove all previous conceptions about him, Xander had returned to the castle and grabbed Sal and some of the veritiserum that his little brother kept in his apartment in Slinky's chamber.

They were about to leave having told the now re-embodied Joyce where they were going when Harry walked in. They took one look at the boys face and knew he would just follow.

Now they stood with Amelia Bones who had been summoned by the Goblins at Xander's request.

Sirius had taken one look at Harry and tears began streaming down his face. He didn't say a single word as he approached the bars and poked his tongue out to drink the serum.

"Why did you betray my parents?" Harry asked before anyone could stop him. No one was going to deny him though.

"I didn't. I was not the Secret Keeper and could not betray them. Would not betray them or you, my godson." He replied in a trance like state

"Who did betray the Potter family?" Amelia asked.

"Peter Pettigrew. He is currently hiding at Hogwarts as a rat. It is his animagus form. Rather fitting I would say. He is the familiar of Ronald Weasley. I doubt the boy is aware of his pets true nature."

Harry looked at Xander.

"Don't worry Harry, Minerva's hunting as we speak." Xander assured him with an evil smirk.

This caused Sal to chuckle. He could imagine Minerva in her cat form stalking the little traitor.

"Why did you not tell this at your trial?" Amelia asked.

"I never received a trial. I was stunned from behind after Peter destroyed the street and escaped. I next woke up in Azkaban. I only found out why I was placed there when Fudge came into power and made an inspection of the prison." Sirius explained. "I thought I was in there because Lord Voldemort had come to power and I was a blood traitor."

"Who knew that Peter was the Secret Keeper?" Harry asked. Something really stank here.

"James, Lilly, Albus and myself. And yet Albus never said anything. He was Chief Warlock back then, he still is now."

"Sal, is there anyway he could defeat the veritiserum?" Xander asked.

"Highly unlikely. He would at least show signs of strain as he fought it." Sal explained as he administered the antidote.

"Would you be willing for my other brother, Godric, to access your mind? Confirming what you've said further?" Xander asked.

"Only if he swears on his magic to tell the truth. And reveals what he saw under veritiserum." Sirius said recoiling slightly.

Sal got a little angry at the implications that Godric would lie. But Xander calmed him with a hand on his shoulder.

"He has every right to be paranoid, Sal. He was clearly framed by the highest levels of government." Sal relaxed slightly, though he was still tense. Xander turned back to Sirius. "I apologise, but neither would affect my brother so that won't be an avenue we can take."

"I'd offer the use of one of my people, but I'd rather not risk it." Amelia admitted.

There was a few moments silence before Harry spoke up. "I believe him. Sal and Professor Flamel are expert Potion Masters. He's innocent of the crimes he is accused of. Besides, we just need to capture Pettigrew and question him to confirm it."

"Good enough for me." Xander said with a smile.

"And me." Sal admitted as he ruffled Harry's hair fondly.

"Me too… personally. But it will take a lot more to convince the public and the Ministry." Amelia said sadly and with a hint of frustration.

"Right then." Xander said clapping his hands together. "Harry, get your godfather out of that cell. Sal, you escort them both back to Hogwarts. Keep Sirius out of the way of the staff and students, we'll make the announcement tomorrow."

"I'll break out the pensieve." Sal said rolling his eyes as he held onto Harry who teleported the three of them back to Hogwarts.

Xander stormed into the Great Hall with Amelia hurrying to catch up. The students were sitting to breakfast and the professors were at their table. Xander marched through the students tables up to the staff table and declared loudly:

"Albus Dumbledore, you are fired. Leave the premises immediately or be forcibly ejected." He said causing everyone to stare at him.

"I assume you have good reason to disrupt this mornings meal in such a deplorable manner?" He asked tightly.

"Your actions regarding the framing of Sirius Black have come to light. You are far from the sort of person I can allow around children. Leave."

"I am afraid I must demand proof from a reliable source." Albus said with a quiet smile.

"Sirius Black testified." Amelia said with a smirk.

"Hardly a trustworthy source!"

"Under veritiserum." She added.

"Brewed by my brother, Salazar Slytherin." Xander added. "Now leave."

"Am I not entitled to a fair trial, Alexander." He asked patronizingly.

"You are entitled to the same justice as Sirius Black." Xander snarled. "But I will allow justice to be served by their parents." He said flinging a hand to indicate the students.

"Enough Albus." Joyce said with authority. "I concur with my son. Minerva, your opinion?"

"Lord Hogwarts has my utmost respect and trust. I will abide by his decisions." Minerva said formally.

"Goodbye Albus. You are dismissed." Joyce declared causing Albus to vanish.

"Thank you Mi'ladies." Xander said with a short bow. He then turned to address the students.

"As you just heard, Sirius Black has been apprehended. Under veritiserum, truth serum, he testified as to his innocence.

"He also gave us the name and location of the real betrayer… Peter Pettigrew. He was the Secret Keeper for the Potters and he betrayed them to them to Tom Riddle, AKA Lord Voldemort.

"Peter has spent the last thirteen years or so as a rat, his animagus form. He was hiding as the Weasley pet and familiar. The Weasleys were completely unaware and hold no blame. They are in fact victims.

"This evening, Sirius Black will be joining us for our evening meal. You will treat him with respect and kindness. He has spent the last decade and more in hell for crimes he did not commit.

"You are probably also wondering about why Albus was fired today in front of all of you. Albus was on probation as he was responsible for Harry Potter being placed in an abusive environment. He also squashed the charges against Severus Snape, the former Potions Professor for crimes against you… the students.

"Finding out today that he was the Chief Warlock behind placing Sirius in jail without a trial and he knew that Sirius was not the Secret Keeper as he cast the Fidelius Charm, was the last straw. A man like that has now interest in justice or your safety. You are merely a means to an end. I have no power over his positions as Chief Warlock, but I can protect you whilst you are here.

"I am sure you will have questions, so the usual setup applies. The pensive will be placed in the Great Hall so you can witness the testimony of Sirius Black. I will ask Sirius for any relevant memories he can provide as well."

The pensieve memories combined with Xander's speech in the morning led to Sirius being welcomed as a hero and victim to the evening meal. This was ideal for Xander as Fudge decided to storm the castle with a very reluctant Amelia on hearing that Sirius Black was being held there. He would save the children and hopefully his reputation!

The doors to the Great Hall opened and the student's meal was interrupted as Fudge stormed in with twenty Aurors in tow, wands drawn and stunners on their lips.

"Sirius Black you are under arrest!" Fudge declared.

Amelia trailed in behind them, gave a little wave to Xander and his family then sat down next to Susan. She really didn't want to be involved.

"What for?" Xander asked with a bored tone.

"Wh… what do you mean 'what for'?" Fudge spluttered. "The man is a criminal, a murderer, a terrorist!"

"Prove it." Xander said in the same tone.

"I have eyewitness accounts." Fudge growled.

"And what exactly did they say?" Sal asked.

"That that monster killed twelve muggles and murdered Peter Pettigrew!" Fudge said incredulously. He couldn't believe all these people were sitting there eating dinner with Sirius Black as if he were a hero.

"And you have proof that Pettigrew is dead?" Xander asked.

"All that was left of him was his finger." Fudge said with slight disgust.

"Ah… and the rest of him?" Xander prompted.

"We assume he was vaporized by what ever spell Black used."

"Assumed? You do know what happens when you 'assume', don't you?" Xander asked with a grin.

"Xander." Joyce warned as she smothered a smirk.

"Fine." Xander pouted. "Why didn't you ever question Sirius under veritiserum?"

"I… wait… what do you mean?" Fudge asked as he pulled up short.

"Sirius Black was incarcerated without trial or the chance to defend himself." Minerva scowled.

"He-he was?" Fudge asked in horror.

"You didn't know?" Xander asked mildly with a slightly raised eyebrow. He knew full well that Fudge came into power several years after Sirius was railroaded. He simply wanted to give the man a chance to make things right, especially as someone else dropped this mess on his doorstep.

"No!" Fudge half shouted. "I wasn't even the head of a department back then!" Fudge then shook himself and tried to reassert some modicum of control over himself. "I'm sorry, the fact remains that despite a lack of trial, we have multiple eyewitness accounts. The most I can offer is to have a trial. Until then, Sirius Black must be placed in custody."

"What if I could discredit those eyewitnesses?" Xander asked offhandedly.

"Unless you have incontrovertible proof that Black is innocent of his crimes, I can't see anyway out of this." Fudge said tiredly.

Xander waved a hand and a cage appeared with a rat scurrying around inside. Fudge stared at the cage, not really sure what was coming next.

"You… you're not going to perform some sort of ancient sacrifice are you?" He asked with worry.

There were several snorts of laughter and giggles from around the hall. Fudge suddenly remembered that he was surrounded by the students.

"Perhaps we could move this to a more private setting?" Fudge requested with polite nervousness.

"Nah, I'll just tell 'em all later." Xander said dismissively. "Besides, they know everything I'm telling you. They've seen my memories of Sirius giving testimony under veritiserum and Sirius' memories of what happened that day."

Fudge didn't really care what the children knew, so long as he wasn't standing in front of them to laugh at and appear the fool.

"In that cage is Peter Pettigrew." Sirius said quietly, but everyone heard him. The aurors gasped as did Fudge.

"Preposterous!" Fudge declared. "We know you killed him!"

"STOP!" Xander roared angrily as he leapt to his feat. "You're jumping to your damned conclusions without the evidence!" Silence reigned in the hall, only the sound of Xander's harsh and angry breathing was heard. "Remus, Minerva, show them."

The two professors calmly stood and Minerva phased them through the table causing some of the aurors to gasp. Xander vanished the cage and Remus held the dirty rat by the scruff of the neck as Minerva forced the traitor to revert.

Fudge was gobsmacked as he saw the dead hero alive and well before him.

He soon regained control and was grinning with joy. "This is amazing! The wizarding world will be overjoyed to find out that one of our worlds greatest heroes is alive and well!" It would also boost his ratings when he was seen shaking hands with said hero.

"Again with the conclusion jumping." Xander groaned. "If he's alive, then Sirius is innocent."

Fudge knew he had him now. "Ah, but you forget the twelve muggles he killed. Not to mention the betrayal of the Potters." He said smugly.

"Why exactly do you think Pettigrew faked his own death?" Remus asked incredulously. "He was the Secret Keeper."

"Impossible! Everyone knows Black was the Secret Keeper."

"Yes!" Peter squealed. "It's true! You can't believe Black's lies Remus!"

"And that's the truth?" Remus asked calmly.

"Of course! I swear it!" Peter declared frantically.

"You don't need to swear Peter… you just need to drink this." Remus grinned as he produced a small vial of potion.

Peter had no delusions regarding the contents of the vial. He physically tried to cower and back away, but Remus was a werewolf and far stronger.

"What's wrong Peter?" Sirius snarked. "I don't mind drinking some."

He was a little shocked when Xander reached over and placed a similar vial in front of him. He looked at him with betrayal.

"Do it now and maybe you can be a free man." Xander shrugged.

Sirius grinned. There were twenty Aurors, the Minister of Magic, The Head of the DMLE and a few hundred students present. Not to mention some of the most esteemed professors in Europe. Sirius popped the top off and swallowed the lot.

"I Sirius Orion Black, did not betray the Potters. I was not and never have been a Secret Keeper for the Fidelius Charm. I did chase down Peter Pettigrew with the intent to make him pay for his betrayal as he was the Secret Keeper, but I did not kill him and I did not kill the muggles." At this point Sirius needed a drink desperately. It was the longest he had spoken since his escape instead Xander handed Sal the antidote and administered it.

Fudge just stared.

Xander sighed. "Remus, make him drink."

Peter was suddenly petrified and stiff as a board. There was a slight gap between his lips, but more than enough room to get the potion in him. Peter was then released from his petrification and bound to a conjured chair courtesy of Minerva.

Xander vanished from his chair to reappear in front of Peter and startling the Aurors and Fudge. The staff and students were quite familiar to this as Harry still had a tendency to teleport to check on Luna at times, or Hermione.

"Peter Pettigrew, were you the Secret Keeper for the Potters?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Did you betray them to Voldemort?" Several Aurors and Fudge gasped at the name. The students collectively rolled their eyes as the professors sniggered at the sight.

"Yes."

"Did you kill the muggles?"

"Yes."

Minerva suddenly spoke up. "Were you coerced into serving Voldemort?" More gasps.

"No."

"Can you be forced to become a Death Eater?" She continued.

"No."

"So your actions were of your own free will?"

"Yes."

"I believe we have established that Sirius Black is innocent and a victim of a miscarriage of justice at the hands of the Ministry and that Peter Pettigrew is unequivocally guilty." Minerva declared primly. She then proceeded to stun Peter where he sat bound to the chair.

Fudge was in shock. He was unsure what he could do about this. When Sirius Black had drunk the vial in front of him and testified as to his innocence he could have argued that the vial was not tested to confirm the presence of veritiserum. But when Peter Pettigrew was given the vial and began confessing… that argument was null and void.

Fudge sighed in defeat. "I can concede that Black is innocent, but he is still an escaped convict and until he can be tried and exonerated he must remain in custody."

"He can't be an 'escaped convict' as he was never convicted. The most you can do is declare him innocent and apologise." Sal remarked.

"And compensate him for the hell he suffered." Godric scowled.

Fudge was desperately trying to get them to understand his hands were tied. "All of which I can do, but until I can get the paperwork sorted he must be held in custo-"

He was brought up short when a bunch of papers were shoved in his face. He followed the hand holding them to see Amelia standing there with a rather annoyed look on her face.

"You knew?" Fudge asked feeling betrayed.

"Of course I knew!" She half shouted. "I was trying to tell you about this but you were insistent on storming the castle to 'save the children' that you ignored me!" She said sarcastically.

Fudge read the papers and tried to hide his red face. They were simple and straightforward. Amelia had filled them out and signed them already. All that was needed was his signature and three witnesses. Several aurors ought to be enough.

He quickly signed with a flourish and then called over Kingsley and another auror to witness.

"Well then." Fudge breathed out in half defeat and half relief. "You are a free man again Lord Black. I will speak with the WWN and the Prophet regarding a press release for the morning… I'm sure Lord Hogwarts and his adopted daughter can handle the… Quibbler." He tried very had not to grit his teeth when mentioning the Quibbler. He never came off well in it.

"That said, we will take the traitor Pettigrew and send you notice of the trial dates."

"Pettigrew stays with us." Xander declared with quiet authority. Fudge just looked at him curiously. "You have yet to build a new prison. You may have him for trial but his sentence has been decreed by the goblin nation."

"He committed crimes against goblins?" Fudge asked.

"He betrayed and committed crimes against Harry Potter, a Prince of the Goblin Nation." Xander pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"But he wasn't your son back then." Fudge wasn't really arguing, he was simply confused.

"Family is one of the most important aspects of Goblin culture. They don't care about when someone became family, only that they are family. The Dursleys should be very happy that they accepted my offer and confessed in non-magical court. My goblins wanted revenge for the abuse Harry suffered at their hands."

"Abuse? We were told that Mr. Potter was living with loving and caring relatives from his mother's family." Fudge frowned.

"By whom?" Joyce asked with a scowl. She knew the answer.

"Albus of course. Where is he anyway?"

"He has been dismissed due to the fact that he was party to Lord Black's unlawful incarceration." Xander growled.

"I know the name 'Dursley'." Sirius muttered quietly.

"Lilly's sister's husband." Remus informed him. "Petunia and Vernon."

"That unmitigated bastard!" Sirius roared. "They actually tried to beat Lilly when they visited! James had to be held back by the house elves so he couldn't kill them!"

"Minister, we thank you for your aid in clearing Sirius, we will hold Pettigrew until your trial and see to his transportation. But for now I believe we should put this behind us for the evening." Joyce said calmly as Minerva and Filius tried to keep Sirius from running off to actually commit murder.

Dinner was a sombre affair. Not many people wanted to eat after that due to shock, horror, excitement, sadness, anger and a whole host of other emotions.

As soon as dinner was over, Harry dragged Xander outside for some privacy, they went for a short walk around the lake.

"What's up Harry, this whole thing getting to you with Sirius? He seems like a decent guy… despite his press." Xander assured him.

Harry was not worried about that, but Xander's words worried him. "I… guess… but… can't I stay with you?" He asked timidly.

Xander was horrified at what he had accidentally implied and knew it had hurt Harry. "God Harry! I am so sorry. I didn't mean anything at all about you leaving me, I just meant that he might be a good uncle… like Sal and Rick. You aren't escaping me that easily though!" He grinned as he pulled his son into a hug.

He felt the young boy who was fast growing up relax in relief. Eventually they continued their walk.

"Come on Harry, spill. Your still nervous about something." Xander prompted.

Harry took a deep breath. "I think we need to get Amelia and Arthur together with Pettigrew. We need to ask some questions not related to my parents or Sirius… or Tom."

"Questions?" Xander asked curiously.

"Xander… he spent some twelve years hiding in the Weasley house. He's a murderer at the least. There were several children sleeping in that house."

Xander paled at what Harry was implying. "Shit." He whispered in horror.

"I'd rather do it soon in case Arthur or one of the children or Molly thinks of this too." Harry prodded.

"Damn… yeah, no you're right Harry. Go get Sal, help him get his serum. I'll go get Amelia and Arthur. Meet us at the goblin dungeons."

Amelia was disgusted at the thought but at the same time proud and saddened that Harry was the one to think of it. It was a testament to how much finding Luna about to be assaulted had affected him.

Arthur was not told why he was required to attend until they were standing outside the cell and the veritiserum was being dripped on Pettigrew's tongue.

It was with great relief that they discovered that Peter Pettigrew may be a traitor and murderer, but he was not a rapist or sexual deviant. Regardless, Arthur threw up as soon as they were in private. They took him to Poppy for a calming draught and dreamless sleep potion. Before leaving they had the Weasley kids up to the hospital wing for Arthur to satisfy the need to hug them.

The Weasley children left feeling confused, but content that they had seen their father.

The following week was hell for Xander, Joyce and Minerva. Someone, and they suspected Albus, had leaked that Remus was a werewolf. They had tried to squash the information but by the Thursday it was in the Prophet. Xander had suggested he come forward and reveal his status as the Omega Wolf. Joyce, Minerva and Remus recommended against it as parents would simply pull their children from the school.

Remus took the hit, much to Xander's annoyance. He decided it would be best for him to leave and let the furore die down. He did request that Xander take over his classes. A prank on the objectors who wouldn't realize that they had successfully ousted the werewolf only to replace him with the King of Werewolves. Sirius loved it.

Remus was sent to the Werewolf village to begin training them. There were plans afoot started by Xander, and Remus' new availability was quite fortuitous.

Harry was hard at work as soon as Peter Pettigrew was locked up. Sirius was fairly upset as he thought that Harry was avoiding him. He couldn't blame him really, he didn't have the best rep. Hermione put that part of his worry to rest as she was very worried too. He was avoiding everyone and was holed up in the library or his bedroom.

She eventually got Joyce to check on him, but just as she was about to knock on the door Harry emerged looking very haggard but with a triumphant grin on his face.

"How many hands do I have?" He asked with a somewhat maniacal grin as he waved his arms in front of him.

Joyce and Hermione just looked at each other, they were both wondering if he had finally cracked.

"You have one hand Harry. Just like always." Hermione said as if he were a four year old.

"Yes!" Harry exclaimed as he began jumping happily around the room.

"Harry… are you ok?" Joyce asked, worriedly. "When was the last time you ate?"

"Or slept?" Hermione added beginning to panic a little.

Harry shrugged. "A while ago." He got excited again as he tapped his left arm. "Ok, now… how many hands do I have?"

Hermione just rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Again… two! We are quite capable of counting, thank you very much!"

Harry laughed in unbridled glee. Then he got sober and took a deep breath. "Ok, the biggie. What is my sex? My, erm… my gender?"

"You're a boy Harry. Specifically my boyfriend." Hermione growled.

Harry was taken aback by that statement. It was the first time either of them had put a label on their relationship verbally. They were teased mercilessly by Neville, Xander and Ginny, but the two of them were still shy around each other on the topic.

"Cool." Harry said quietly. "COOL!" He shouted as he grabbed Hermione's hands and began dancing her around the room.

Joyce just looked on in amusement. She knew Harry had done something just because of the way he was acting. She had no idea what though.

"Harry, what did you do?" Joyce asked causing the pair to stop their rhythmical motions.

Harry smiled slyly and tapped his left hand. "Ok, watch my left arm very carefully. And tell me how many hands I have."

"One." They said together.

"Remember, watch carefully. My left hand is on the end of my left arm."

There was a startled gasp from the two ladies as they suddenly saw Harry's hand squeeze out of his sleeve.

"What did you do?" Hermione asked in awe.

"Localised and personalized Fidelius Charm. Can hide a person or body part at will." He grinned.

Hermione was gobsmacked.

"Amazing!" Joyce declared proudly. "Is it just you manipulating magic or did you alter the existing spell?"

"Couldn't figure out how to do it without the spell so I managed to modify it. But the spell allows for some safety features. It doesn't remove it from our phase it just removes all knowledge of it." Harry explained. "There are some missing mugs somewhere in my room."

"Why did you do this?" Hermione asked in awe. Then she got worried. "And why did you ask us what sex you are." She asked with narrowed eyes.

Harry's face grew dark as he scowled. "Luna."

Hermione didn't understand. Harry adored Luna, Luna had ended up hexing Harry when his over-protectiveness became too much. Penelope Clearwater had reluctantly given her pointers, she still thought Harry's attitude to Luna was cute.

"As close as you can get to a perfect protection from unwanted advances." Joyce nodded sagely.

"Yeah. Luna will never have to worry again. I… er… I needed to make sure that hiding… those… bits, didn't make me… not a boy?" Harry explained.

"Could you do me?" Hermione asked with wide innocent eyes.

Joyce tried yet failed to hide her giggle and snort at Hermione's unintentional double entendre. She couldn't wait to tell Dan and Emma.

"That's… the thing. I can only cast it on myself at the moment." Harry said nervously.

"Why?" Joyce asked with a smirk, she had an inkling of Harry's problem.

"I… need to see what I'm doing?" He shrugged with a wince.

"Oh." Hermione said quietly. "OH!" She said louder as the facts caught up with her.

"Can you teach me the spell?" Joyce asked.

"Yes! Thank you!" Harry said in relief.

"Excellent. We'll have Sal or Xander as our teaching dummies." She said.

Harry and Hermione just grimaced neither wanted to see or imagine that!

"As older brother I say Sal should do it."

"Like hell! As older brother you should be taking the hit for me."

"I already risked being neutered when Mom put me through the Animagus crap. I still say I could have wound up as a female hyena."

"I travelled over 900 years to help you out!"

"Boys!" Joyce shouted over their arguing. "You will both be our guinea pigs."

"Can I just say, I'm so happy I'm a horcrux."

"Shut up Rick." Sal and Xander snapped.

"I really don't mind being Mummy's test subject." Luna chimed in. "And I really am happy Harry made this."

"Not happening sweetie." Joyce said firmly. "We trust Harry's work, but we need to make sure I can cast it. Then we'll do it on you."

"Fine." Xander sighed. "I'll do it. But for the record, I want it noted that I wholly disapprove of my mother getting anywhere near my junk."

"Wait! What about Nym." Hermione offered.

"She is a girl." Harry mused. "Why would she be better though?"

Hermione whispered in Harry's ear and he turned bright red. "I didn't need to know that." He whined.

"I'll just go get her." Hermione offered before she teleported out.

"I just realized something." Harry winced. "One way or another, I still have to see Dad's… stuff."

Nym point blank refused to perform the charm on Xander. Until he promised to reveal the secret to her. She was getting very frustrated after Xander was holding off from more physical things.

Xander had explained that he really didn't want to set the alarms off in the castle just because they wanted some nookie. He had made plans for a romantic weekend at Christmas. Nym made it clear that they would be doing it in the castle as they both lived there and she would not be waiting to do the deed only on holidays because of an alarm.

Joyce was able to rescue them both by pointing out that it only applied to underage individuals and students.

At the moment, Xander was feeling fairly exposed. He was lying on a bed in the hospital wing. Instead of just Nym and Harry, Poppy, Sal and Joyce were there as well. Nym was staring hungrily at his crotch. She'd seen the goods and was ready to make a down payment.

Harry began the first part of his lecture. "Ok, so the Fidelius is usually tied to the Secret Keeper. I needed to do something similar but I also needed a way to turn it on and off so I created an anchor point.

"The anchor point is also a control rune that lets you turn the Fidelius on or off. I had a lot of… issues about whether it would work and what the downsides were. For instance, if you need emergency care a Healer needs to be able to access the whole of you. So the rune also holds the information to allow a person with no intent to cause or allow you harm to disable the charm.

"It's my charm so I designed a… picture or image that would designate the rune."

"You can say tattoo, Harry." Xander smirked.

"Fine, a tattoo." Harry sighed. "A stag for men and a lily for women."

They all nodded approvingly. Remus and Sirius had been regaling them with tales of their animagus adventures. They knew that James was a White Stag.

"The reason for everyone having the same thing is so that Healers will know what it stands for and there won't be any confusion. They won't see through the charm to know that a person has those… bits, but they will know that there is a Fidelius in place."

"I'm no expert on these sort of things, but shouldn't we be sitting at a table making sure the downsides are covered before we start experimenting on my boyfriend?" Nym asked. She was getting more and more worried as she listened to all the fail-safes Harry had installed.

Poppy just chuckled. "In a roundabout way I believe Harry has. He has been pestering me with questions and scenarios for weeks now. Today's revelation explains why."

"Yes, he's been asking me questions that seem to relate to this as well." Sal mused with a smirk. "Who else have you… consulted?"

"Just some of the professors. Hagrid, Flitwick, Flamel, McGonagall, Vector, Septima… pretty much all except Dumbledore and Trelawney. I also spoke to Hermione and Neville."

"Sounds good to me." Xander grinned.

"Yep, have you written all this down?" Nym asked.

"I wrote out the spell and procedure, but my notes are messy." Harry admitted.

"We'll get Godric to help you write them up. Rowena taught him how when he developed his mind spells." Joyce assured him.

"Ok… the suspense is killing me! Get on with it!" Xander moaned. "Besides… there's a draft."

Harry went through the procedure explaining how the spell created the magical tattoo. Once that was in place it was up to the individual to activate it. Anyone could activate the charm but only the person wearing it could deactivate it fully.

"Did it work?" Sal asked eventually.

They had all seen the stag, could still see it. But they weren't sure if it worked.

"Erm… did what work?" Xander asked with a smirk.

"You were supposed to be hiding your… your… well… something! Did Harry's charm work?" He asked impatiently.

"In a word, yes. Nym, what have you been wanting to do with me in the bedroom for the past few weeks?"

"You really want me to say? In front of Harry… and your mum?"

Xander winced. "Regrettably yes."

"Fine, I want to screw your brains out." She grinned at his embarrassment.

"Harry, how do you reveal the location of what you are hiding?"

"Yeah… you erm… you have explicitly state what and where it is located." Harry blushed. "When I hid my hand I said 'My left hand is on the end of my left arm'."

Xander tilted his back to look at the ceiling. "Couldn't have made it simple could you." He groaned.

"That would be kind of pointless." Harry argued. "Besides, it is simple. Just embarrassing."

"Fine." Xander grumped. "My penis is between my legs." He growled.

There was a chorus of 'ahh's' as the information permeated their brains. Then a lot of snickering and giggling.

"I've been… hiding my… bits for the past few days and no one has been treating me different so you can probably do it discretely to the girls in school and the boys needn't know the difference." Harry offered.

"Yes, but this Christmas you and I will be giving a series of lectures to the emergency staff at St. Mungo's." Poppy warned. "You have just made yourself very famous."

"But I'm already very famous!" Harry whined.

"Sometimes that's the price of doing the right thing. But we are very proud of you." Joyce said hugging her youngest son.

"Is it my turn yet?" A familiar voice called from outside the privacy curtain.

"Luna?" Harry asked as he pulled the curtain open.

"HEY!" Xander cried as he quickly covered himself up.

Everyone was stunned as they saw not only Luna, but Hermione and Ginny behind her. And every other female in the castle from student to deputy head.

"Luna insisted we needed to be here." Minerva said with a shrug.

With that, the men ran. Nym, Joyce and Poppy had the basics down. They quickly taught Minerva and the other female professors using Luna and Penelope who had both volunteered. It only took a few hours for them to finish the female population of the school.

Rumours of an all female conspiracy ran rampant amongst the male students. The females saw no reason to dissuade them of that theory.

*Chapter 20*: Chapter 20  
The last few weeks running up to Christmas saw Sirius get more and more moody. He managed to avoid snapping at people but he was generally sulking. He was more melancholy around Harry and Remus but passive aggressive around Xander, Joyce, Sal and Godric.

Nym had spent some time with Sirius and helped him reconnect with her mother, his cousin. That seemed to go very well and they had him over for dinner at least once a week since. He was still staying at Hogwarts whilst he recovered and the Wizarding World got used to his being free and innocent.

Remus and Nym got absolutely fed up with him in the end and dragged him to a dirty room at the Hog's Head to sort him out.

"Alright, you've got me here, what do you want?" Sirius demanded. "And for the record, Moony, I don't swing that way. Nym, you're my cousin and just… no!"

"Don't make me hex you Sirius." Nym growled.

"Sirius, what is the problem you have with Xander and his family?" Remus asked as he calmly sat in the rooms only chair.

"Problem? No problem. Good people, right?" He babbled.

Remus rolled his eyes whilst Nym just glared at him.

"There is something wrong. They seem too convenient." Sirius sighed. "I mean, really, the Spirit of Hogwarts? We never found any evidence of that whilst we were at school.

"A time travelling demon hunter? Sent here to 'protect' Harry?" Sirius said with air quotes. "There have to be hundreds of abused kids and people with bad guys after them, but Harry gets his own guardian? Fishy!

"And then we have 'Sal' and 'Rick'. Claiming to be Slytherin and Gryffindor and appearing soon after this Joyce and Xander appear! It stinks of a conspiracy." He declared as he sat on the bed.

Nym threw hands up in disgust as she span away.

Remus looked thoughtful. "He does make some persuasive and logical arguments."

Sirius preened triumphantly.

Nym stared at Remus like he was nuts. "Are you nuts?" She was also verbal in her assertion.

Remus just scoffed. "I'm not saying he's right." Sirius shot a look of betrayal at his friend. "Just that from his point of view he has some decent reasoning. He hasn't had nearly a years worth of working with Xander and Joyce and seeing how they treat Harry and Luna."

"He could at least trust us!" Nym argued. "I know I was just a kid when he went away, but he is ignoring you, mum and dad!"

"That's because there is something else that is causing his grumpiness. He just hasn't told us yet." Remus said with a pointed look at Sirius… who tried and failed to look innocent.

Nym stared at Sirius with narrowed eyes. "You're right. Spill cousin. Or I'll have you subjected to a tickling charm by Harry… without his wand!"

Having seen what Harry could do without a wand, that was a pretty harsh threat.

"Harry is supposed to be my responsibility." He sulked.

Nym and Remus just stared at him.

Nym spoke up first. "Would we be correct in assuming that you don't really believe all that rubbish you came up with about Xander, Joyce and the others being part of a conspiracy and that you are just sulking because Harry has Xander and doesn't need you?"

Sirius didn't say anything. He just looked incredibly guilty.

SMACK!

"OW!" Sirius was holding his stinging cheek and Nym was wringing her hand.

"YOU SELFISH BASTARD!" She screeched.

Remus was glad he had the foresight to put up privacy charms. He just wished he had earplugs… werewolf hearing was not always an advantage.

"I know you suffered for years in Azkaban after being falsely accused and betrayed and that you had just lost your best friends, but you seem to be ignoring the fact that at the same time Harry was being beaten, abused, used like a house elf and to top it all off he was conditioned to think he deserved it and it was normal!" Nym hissed angrily. "When Xander rescued him he was like a frightened puppy! He couldn't stand physical touch and physically recoiled from me. ME!" She shouted. "My little baby brother who would beg and cry if he wasn't in my arms couldn't stand to touch me!"

Sirius looked ill. He looked murderous. He looked lost.

Remus took up the explanation whilst Nym tried to calm herself. "You have to understand, Sirius, that Xander and Joyce literally rescued Harry from that life. Dumbledore kept trying to have Harry sent back to live with the Dursleys.

"Thanks to Xander, Harry is now learning what it means to be a young boy becoming a teenager and growing into a fine man."

Nym came back with tears streaming down her face. "He laughs now. He lets me hug him. He even makes jokes! Before he would barely look us in the eye! Xander, Joyce and Minerva have turned him from a broken slave to a happy child. The way he is supposed to be. They are heroes."

"Sirius, you need to get over yourself." Remus warned. "You keep this up and you will not only lose Harry, but hurt him too. You're still his godfather. Xander, Joyce and Minerva are intent on having James and Lilly remembered and respected as Harry's parents.

"Harry is desperate for anything to do with his birth parents. The Dursley's told him they were drunks who died whilst driving."

Sirius looked murderous again.

"Minerva called me to Hogwarts originally just so Harry could meet friends of his parents. In a perfect world James and Lilly would still be here and you would be a beloved uncle. But they aren't here, but you are still wanted as a beloved uncle. Do you really think you are capable of being more at the moment?" Remus asked referring to his recovery from Azkaban and being a fugitive.

Sirius sighed. He had already lost James and Lilly. The betrayal by Peter was still a gaping wound. He had missed out on Harry's childhood. He couldn't lose him again.

"I promise to try. I – I think I'll take some time away. There are people I need to see, my estate needs checking. I'll speak to Harry tell him I need to leave for a bit, but I'll be back for the trial of Peter."

Nym looked like she was about to lay into Sirius for abandoning Harry, but Remus intervened.

"It's a good idea. Sirius could use some time to centre himself and regain his life. I'll still spend time with him and he's welcome at the werewolf village. I'll try and get him to spend some time with Xander. He's a fun person, much like James and you, Sirius."

Nym sagged in defeat. "Fine. But make sure you tell Harry in person. He doesn't need more people hurting him. If you will excuse me, I need some lovin' from my honey!" She sniffed imperiously as she vanished without a sound.

"I thought you said Xander refused to teach anyone his methods?" Sirius queried as he stared at the space Nym had vanished from.

"He did. But after Harry came up with the Lilly-Flower Charm as he calls it, Xander decided he couldn't deny people the opportunity to defend themselves. Anyone he teaches must take a magically binding oath that says that they won't teach others what they learn."

"Sounds a bit vague to me." Sirius frowned.

"It's not like he's going to teach Lucius." Remus said rolling his eyes.

"What about his son?"

"Anyone who is willing to take the oaths is being taught. If they break the oaths they lose their magic."

"Still sounds dangerous." Sirius sighed.

Sirius stayed for Christmas where he was introduced to Dan and Emma. He would have liked to have spent it with just him, Remus and Harry, but he remembered what Remus and Nym told him and felt very guilty for even considering taking Harry away from his family.

After Christmas, Harry's evenings were spent with Poppy and Sal as they took him on a series of lectures around the country on the application of the Lilly-Flower Charm and how to handle it. Nothing was publicized as the nature and purpose of the charm would make it counter-productive. It was simply something that one doesn't really discuss in polite company… like a prostate exam.

During the lead up to the trial of Peter Pettigrew, Sirius gave a series of interviews to the Prophet and WWN regarding his illegal incarceration and the parts played by Albus Dumbledore. He also requested Xander give interviews about what he had learned and the consequences. Xander was happy to help.

Dumbledore had responded with his usual genial grandfatherly vibe in interviews by playing the experience and Greater Good cards. Sirius had been unsuccessful in lobbying for Dumbledore to be brought up on charges as he had immunity as the Chief Warlock. He was able to have him prohibited from being the sitting judge at Peter's trial. Amelia Bone's was whom they wanted but there were worries about a conflict of interest as she was the lead investigator in the clearing of Sirius' name.

The Ministry had managed to set up a new prison. Fudge, much to Xander's annoyance had again staffed it with Dementors. Xander reluctantly had his Goblins hand over the prisoners, but not without several threats and warnings to Fudge and several ranting interviews with the WWN. Fudge took a hit in the Prophet and Quibbler for a few days before the Prophet started to change its tune and praise Fudge's ingenuity. Xander cut all ties to the Prophet, much to Luna's delight.

Easter brought several things with it. The trial of Peter Pettigrew, which was short and to the point. Testimony and confession by veritiserum landed him with a life sentence in the new prison. But he was handed over to Xander and the Goblin Nation under threat of Goblin War.

The following day his head was hanging next to Quirrell's outside Gringotts. That night Remus and Sirius drank themselves into a stupor and woke up the next day in the tender care of Poppy.

The death of Pettigrew also made Sirius and Hagrid Secret Keepers. They were finally able to take Harry to see his parents graves. Hagrid had done a marvellous job repairing the house and garden out back where the graves were.

Xander was freed from teaching Defence as Minerva had called on an old friend, Alastor Moody, a retired Auror, to take over lessons. Moody was very reluctant, but Minerva seemed to have something to blackmail him with. Xander and Moody got on like a house on fire, the two of them with Sal and Godric were soon swapping stories and beer on a regular basis down the Three Broomsticks.

Moody's first lesson was supervised by Xander for the simple fact that he was going to be performing the Unforgivables. Joyce and Minerva strenuously objected but Xander was very much for informing them what to watch out for and the consequences. Sal and Godric tipped the balance, they weren't exactly in favour, but they grudgingly accepted it might be worthwhile.

The lesson had hit Neville hard. It brought back the memories that had been dredged up by the Dementors of his parent's torture. Moody was aware and held him back after class. Xander left them to it.

"I'm not surprised that spell would affect you so." Moody said sadly. "Your parents were fine people, they weren't the smartest grapes on the vine, but they were fine people."

Neville bristled in anger at this. "What do you mean?" He practically growled.

Moody just grinned at him, a somewhat gruesome sight really. "Well anyone who's going to make me your godfather can't really be all there!"

Neville took a few moments to process that statement. "You… you're my godfather?"

"That I am, lad. Lilly Potter was your godmother, a fine girl who would have done right by you had she lived." Moody said sadly.

"But why didn't I live with you?" Neville asked.

"Ha! Look at me boy!" He said spreading his arms wide. "I can barely keep m'self alive, how was I gonna take care of a young 'un? 'Sides, your Gran was there for ya, my role was merely for protection and teaching. I was due to begin tutoring you in your first year, but I was more interested in seeing how young Xander dealt with you. Your gran, Gussy, she was pleased with your progress so we decided there was no need to stretch you thin."

Neville was pleased about that. His life had taken a drastic turn for the better the day Xander had arrived.

Moody gave a sad sigh. "I was the one that found you that night."

Neville looked up in shock at the admission.

"Aye lad, me. I had various monitoring charms and protections on you to alert me if you were in danger. But by the time I made it, they were already lying on the floor twitching away. My only regret is that I didn't kill those bastards that night." He spat in disgust.

"I hear our Lord Hogwarts has taught you that you should never leave an enemy alive to come back and kill you. Fine advice that."

"Do you have stories of Harry's parents and mine, sir?" Neville asked hopefully.

"Aye, plenty of stories. Pictures too. Including some of you and Harry playing together." Moody laughed. "You two would raise hell when it came time to separate you, was bad enough we had to pry you out of Bill and Nymphies arms."

Neville was surprised to learn that the old man would have items of sentimental value.

"I can see your thoughts on your face, lad." Moody chuckled. "Something I know Xander will teach you is that everyone needs time to relax and recuperate. I did mine watching you and your 'adopted' little brother play. Helps one appreciate why we fight."

Albus had managed to avoid being caught in the investigations into Sirius' imprisonment. He was somehow able to blame it on the previous Minister despite all the evidence to the contrary. His firing from Hogwarts was spun into a noble decision to step down and devote his time to the Wizengamot and International arena. Xander didn't really care as long as he was gone, Joyce and Minerva were livid and warned that it could come back to haunt them.

Sirius became a great source of information as he had reclaimed the Black seat in the Wizengamot. Being the last of the Blacks he was now Lord Black, unless he produced an heir, Harry was his heir.

Surprises came from similar areas when Augusta Longbottom requested a meeting with Xander, Sal and Godric. The three men travelled to Longbottom manor to meet with Neville's Grandmother.

"My Lords, I am honoured that you agreed to meet with me." She said formally with a curtsey.

Xander was about to say that titles and formality weren't necessary, but Sal stepped forward.

"The honour is ours Lady Longbottom. Your son is a fine young man who brings respect and honour to your house." He said with a slight bow. Xander, seeing that Godric had bowed, followed suit and decided to keep quiet for now.

Xander frowned as he followed the three others as they were ushered into a study and privacy wards were thrown up.

"Lord Hogwarts, I know you do not hold much stock in various Pureblood traditions, but it was necessary to ensure that the protocols are observed for any who wish to spy on us." Lady Longbottom told Xander apologetically.

Xander gave a small smile. "I don't really care for them, for myself, but I try to ensure that I respect the traditions of others as much as I can. I was simply caught off guard as I haven't seen these things in Neville."

Augusta had a fond smile at the thought of her grandson. "Yes, Neville knows when it is appropriate, it is part of the reason I asked you here." She admitted as she indicated they should sit.

"We are at your service, Mi'Lady." Sal intoned.

Augusta smiled. "Please gentlemen, I thank you, but please, whilst we are alone, at least call me Gussy."

Sal returned the smile and Xander visibly relaxed in relief. "Then please, I am Sal and my brothers Xander and Rick."

"Thank you. I have been keeping abreast of the happenings at the school and in the Ministry. Suffice to say, I do not agree with Albus' actions and support your decision to remove him from the school.

"But Albus is attempting to build his powerbase in the Ministry. I do not believe he has evil intent, but he could cause problems for the school and our children in the coming days."

"How do you mean?" Xander asked with a frown.

"Although the school is private property and you do have a fair amount of say over staffing, the school is subject to the laws and decrees of the government. At the moment, those laws only govern certain requirements of the curriculum.

"Albus could try and introduce new laws that would remove the autonomy you currently enjoy." Augusta explained.

"I can't see how we could be forced to do anything, anybody attempts to force us to do anything and we would retaliate with force." Xander shrugged.

Sal just slapped him round the back of the head. "Idiot! We wouldn't be the ones at risk, the families would be. We would be safe in the castle, but the parents and siblings at home would be vulnerable."

"I see your point… and ow!" Xander griped. "I take it you have a plan?" He asked Augusta.

"More a set of ideas. The Longbottom family holds a seat in the Wizengamot. As do the houses Hogwarts, Salazar, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. If even just the three of you could claim your seats, we could successfully block any attempts. Or at least force a compromise in our favour."

"Does Harry's family hold a seat?" Xander asked.

"They do, but until Harry comes of age, he can not claim it. They can only be held by the males of the family, I have a plan that may help Neville claim the Longbottom seat, it involves him claiming his Lordship, the Potters don't hold a Lordship so Harry is unable to do the same."

"Harry can do the same, he's my heir." Godric explained. "I can't claim my own seat as I am technically dead, but Harry can claim my Lordship and then claim both his seats."

"So that means we would be able to claim five of the seven seats available to us." Xander mused.

"Actually, Xander, you can claim Rowena's and Helga's." Sal grinned. "They named you as heir."

"What? Didn't they have children of their own?" Xander asked.

"Of course. They left them their physical possessions, but they bequeathed their titles and seats to you due to Rowena's visions. I assume it was for this specific event."

"What does that mean, exactly?" Xander asked with narrowed eyes.

"That you hold three separate Lordships." Sal shrugged.

"Your votes in the Wizengamot will also count three times. You can also legally marry three women." Godric explained.

"Why the hell would I want to do that?" Xander cried. "I had enough trouble trying to get married to one woman… I'm fairly sure Nym would kill me if I mentioned another two!"

"You don't have to, but it is permitted, and it would protect your assets in the future." Augusta pointed out.

"Fine, lets shelve this topic for a while. Now I assume you called us here about Neville assuming his Lordship." Xander said changing the topic.

Augusta's smile at Xander's discomfort dropped. "Indeed. But that would only be possible if his father were to pass on."

There was a few moments silence as the implications became clear.

"Why don't we head over to St. Mungo's now. I can see if there is anything that can be done for them." Godric declared firmly.

It was a glum foursome that returned to the manor a few hours later. Godric had used all his skills and his hat to try and find some way to help Frank and Alice.

"Frank simply isn't in there." Godric explained. "His body is breathing and his heart is beating but there is no soul or consciousness."

"Then keeping him alive-"

"Neither hurts nor harms him as he simply isn't there." Godric interrupted Augusta.

"And Alice?" She asked.

"The damage is purely mental. Her memories are all there, she just isn't connected to them. I could try and help her, but it would be merely guess work. The best I can recommend is Neville or Fawkes providing some tears. Have Neville discuss it with Fawkes though."

"So how should we deal with… Frank's body?" Augusta asked hesitantly. She had always held out some hope that a cure would be found.

"We do nothing and decide nothing until Neville is seated here with us." Xander stated firmly.

Augusta went to object but Sal got there first.

"He's right. If the point of this is to help Neville attain his Lordship and place in the Wizengamot, then we must treat him like an adult and seek his input."

"Would it be possible to bring him here now?" Augusta requested.

It didn't take long for Xander to return with Neville, Fawkes tagged along so Xander assumed his companion knew what was coming.

"Neville, dear, we've just been to visit your parents." Augusta said sadly. "It appears your father is not actually in his body… it is merely functioning on it's own.

"Lord Gryffindor-"

"Just 'Ric', Gussy." Godric interjected calmly, this was not the time for the distance of titles.

"He has determined that there may be hope for your mother… but not from him."

Neville calmly responded. "I know."

"You do?" Xander asked taken aback.

Neville gave a small smile. "As soon as I was able to be alone after my animagus transformation, I asked Fawkes to come with me and help heal my parents. He showed me how to enter their minds and view their souls. Neither has a soul anymore… they are just empty husks."

There was a few moments as the adults absorbed that information.

"Are you sure about your mother?" Godric asked. "I found her memories and a small consciousness."

"I said the same thing, according to Fawkes, it's just her brain working." Neville took a deep breath. "I assume you wanted to talk about… killing their bodies so I can take up the Lordship?"

"How did you figure that out?" Xander asked in mild surprise.

"My best friends are Harry, Hermione, Luna and Ginny. Two of the smartest people I know and two Purebloods. Not to mention Luna's gifts. I told them what happened when I came to heal my parents. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to get in trouble."

"I'm just sorry I wasn't there for you." Xander said sadly.

"You've been there for me plenty of times. Between you, Joyce and Minnie I feel like I really experienced parents." Neville admitted as tears began to fall down his cheeks.

Xander pulled the young man into a tight and possessive hug and Fawkes began to sing a soothing song.

"Do you have any input into what you wish to do?" Sal asked gently.

Neville sniffed and wiped his eyes and nose on the handkerchief provided by Augusta. "We need the appropriate witnesses and Fawkes said he will deal with the bodies."

"We'll have the bodies moved as they are to Hogwarts so the others and Joyce can be there for you." Xander assured him.

Nobody wanted to wait any longer. Frank and Alice's bodies had been wasting away for over a decade and it seemed like an insult to keep them that way. Augusta signed the paper work and arranged for witnesses from St. Mungo's and the Ministry and that evening they all gathered in the infirmary.

Nothing was said as Fawkes circled slowly above the two bodies causing a ring of fire in his path, he spiralled inwards filling he ring in. He then hovered in the centre and he and the ring descended on the bodies. A flash of fire and it was over, the bodies were gone and Fawkes was there alone between the beds.

A memorial service was held a few days later at the Longbottom Manor. The following day Neville became Lord Longbottom with Harry as Lord Gryffindor at his side. It was a private affair that would not be revealed until the next meeting of the Wizengamot.


	5. Chapter 21 - Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The spirit of Hogwarts believes that Harry has suffered enough in his eleven years of life and calls in a protector to guide and care for him. Not slash, rating for violence in later chapters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a Repost all words belong to mjimeyg

*Chapter 21*: Chapter 21  
It was a fairly well lit room, considering that it was designed by magicals. They tended to enjoy their dramatic ambience a little too much. This room was designed in a form of a circle with benches around the outside in ascending levels from the middle outwards. Seated on these benches were various men in fancy robes of many ages. Embedded into a section of the benches was a form of judges seat, there sat Albus Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge and a court scribe.

Albus sat and surveyed his domain. It was not long since his domain included Hogwarts, he very much enjoyed sitting with the teachers and watching the children talk and enjoy themselves. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of his life, being a teacher. But he had been thrown out of Hogwarts because some people simply couldn't accept that he was working for the Greater Good. That he was working to ensure that their grandchildren and great-grandchildren would be able to live in peace and harmony.

Now he was reduced to watching and mediating between sour old men. Albus had no real power as a voter in the Wizengamot. He was merely a figurehead. But Albus had learnt to sculpt his role into one that inspired the members of the Wizengamot to seek and heed his advice. He had the done the same in the ICW. He had had far more power as Headmaster of Hogwarts. There he could mould the future minds and talents of the wizarding world. Now he was banished from the ICW because of his so-called crimes against Black.

Today's meeting looked to be a major headache. Sirius Black was once again in attendance. It had taken a lot of political manoeuvring and in some cases, outright blackmail, to keep himself out of the Black Debacle. He had finally escaped the whole thing by claiming a combination of immunity as a sitting judge at the time, and by blaming the whole thing on the Minister at the time.

This meant that there would not be a female minister for centuries to come and that women in general would be placed under even worse scrutiny, but it was for the Greater Good that he be free and able to maintain his positions.

But it was the five individuals sat to his left that confused him. Xander Harris, Salazar Slytherin, Godric Gryffindor, Neville Longbottom and worst of all, Harry Potter. Perched on Harry's head was the Sorting Hat.

Albus banged his gavel to begin the proceedings.

"Before we begin gentlemen, I must enquire of Lord Black why he has allowed non-members into these chambers."

Sirius stood. "In short, I have not allowed 'non-members' into these chambers. Lord Longbottom is here in the seat of House Longbottom. Lord Slytherin is here in the seat of House Slytherin. Lord Harry Potter of Gryffindor is here in the seats of House Gryffindor and Potter and Lord Hogwarts is here in the seats of House Hogwarts, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw."

There was an instant cacophony of noise as various objections were shouted. Albus called out authoritatively. "SILENCE!"

It was a testament to the respect that the aged wizard commanded that they all sat down in silence immediately.

"Now then, as you have heard, there are many objections that cannot be simply ignored-"

"Actually they can so long as they are verified as the rightful holders of the seats they claim." Sirius interrupted. "Just as all the members present were forced to do when they claimed their seats. So long as they are found to be the rightful holders, there is nothing that any other member can object to."

"Harry and Neville are-"

"Lord Gryffindor and Lord Longbottom." Sirius corrected sternly. Sirius was one of the few people who could claim a Lordship, it gave him slightly more power and demanded much more respect. It as one of the reasons Albus had not freed Sirius despite his first hand knowledge of his innocence.

Albus sighed. "They are both far too young to claim their seats."

"There is no age limit. The Charter makes no claims to that fact, Albus." Sirius had a distinct dislike for Albus. Not for the pain he had caused him with Azkaban, but because of the pain he had caused Harry by placing him with the Dursleys.

"I, for one, challenge their claims." Lucius Malfoy declared snootily. "At the very least we know that the true Heir of Slytherin was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. As he had no issue, the line of Slytherin lies dormant."

"Who?" Salazar asked.

"Tom Riddle, or Lord Voldemort as he prefers to be known." Xander scoffed loudly.

The chamber was filled with more shouts of surprise and anger. It was bad enough Xander had said the name, now he also seemed to have information regarding the true identity of the Dark Lord.

"Huh, guess they didn't know that." Xander smirked cheekily at Dumbledore who was desperately trying not to bang his ancient head on the equally ancient desk.

"You may discuss the particulars of this so called 'Dark Lord' another time, gentlemen. For now I can allay your fears and state unequivocally that I have never sired a child." Salazar declared with some heat.

"And just how do you intend to prove that?" Lucius scoffed.

"The same way you proved that you were the rightful heir to your family seat." Salazar said as though it were simple.

The already pale Malfoy nearly turned translucent.

Xander saw this and burst out into raucous laughter.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked.

It was Godric who answered with a small smile. "Judging by the look on young Lucius' face, I would say that he never proved his right to the Malfoy seat."

Seeing Lucius suddenly turn slightly green, Xander began to hyperventilate with laughter.

"Oh my!" Godric chuckled. "Could it be that there isn't an actual 'Malfoy' seat?"

"With the Wizengamot's permission, I would like to cast a calming charm on my dear brother." Sal requested.

"No…" Xander gasped. "I'll be fine… just too funny! Have to show Mom and Min."

"I must remind you that these sessions are closed to the public and considered private and confidential." Albus reprimanded.

"No they aren't. They are supposed to be open to the public as per royal order." Godric retorted firmly.

"That order was rescinded by this very council over a decade ago." Fudge declared.

"Then you are all guilty of treason. Only the King or Queen of the land may change the rules of the Wizengamot." Godric said simply.

"We are wizards!" Fudge said imperiously. "We do not bow to the whims of mere muggles!"

"Those rules were laid down by Arthur! He was a wizard." Salazar said angrily.

"Those rules where cast in magic by Arthur and Merlin. The Knights of the Round table added their own magic! I was worried that the descendants of the Knights had truly fallen far. But it appears that many of you may be laying false claims on non-existent relationships." Godric ranted.

"And just how would you know this?" Fudge demanded.

"You mean you can't actually figure that out yourselves?" Salazar asked mockingly. "We were there! Godric and I are Knights of the Round Table!

"King Arthur and Merlin were like brothers, Arthur was like an uncle to the four of us. Which makes sense as Merlin married our mother and adopted us along with her."

"How dare you make such appalling claims!" One old man demanded.

"I suppose you will tell us that Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were also Knights of the Round Table." Lucius scoffed.

"Well… yes, but we called them Ladies of the Round Table, along with our mother, Lady Hogwarts." Godric admitted.

"Why don't we just prove it, we can then get the rest of these old men to take the same test!" Salazar said, his temper was at boiling point.

"What test?" Fudge demanded exasperatedly. "The only requirement is to take an oath that you are the rightful heir to the seat you claim. If you lie, your magic is forfeit."

Salazar was about to start screaming when Sirius leaned over.

"It would be best to follow their rules for now. They would be quite happy to declare you frauds despite your oath just to make sure there isn't a test that might prove they don't have seats on the Wizengamot."

"But-"

"Look, whatever you know, is over 1000 years old. These fools have perverted it beyond recognition. You have no real power politically. They have all the power, they control the laws, even the ones regarding education." Sirius said pointedly.

"Maybe we should just do what we need to and leave, we can always come back and fight another day?" Harry asked.

"Agreed. We clearly need more information." Godric noted.

Salazar grunted in disgust but stood and raised his wand.

"I, Lord Salazar Slytherin, Knight of the Round Table, claim my seat on the Wizarding Council of… Great Britain." A beam of light shot of Salazar's wand and hit the crest above the podium where Dumbledore and Fudge sat.

A male voice was heard to declare: "Welcome Salazar Slytherin, your claim is acknowledged and upheld."

Godric had a wistful smile in his eyes.

Xander stood and made a similar declaration.

"I, Alexander Harris, Lord of Hogwarts, do claim my seats and those of Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff on the Wizarding Council of Great Britain."

Having no wand, Xander raised his hand and directed a beam of light at the crest.

"Welcome Alexander Harris, your claims are acknowledged and upheld."

Neville stood and took his oath.

"I, Neville Franklin Longbottom do claim my seat on the Wizarding Council of Great Britain."

"Welcome Neville Franklin Longbottom, your claim is acknowledged and upheld."

"I would ask for transfer of voting rights for my seat to be passed to Lord Hogwarts until further notice." Neville requested.

"Request approved. This transfer must be renewed at the commencement of each year or voting rights will revert to the heir." Came the voice.

Harry stood up nervously. "I, Harry James Potter do claim my seats on the Wizarding Council of Great Britain."

"Does Lord Gryffindor concur?" The voice asked.

"I do." Godric declared firmly.

"Welcome Harry James Potter, your claim is acknowledged and upheld."

"I would ask for transfer of voting rights for my seat be passed to Lord Sirius Black until further notice." Harry asked timidly.

"Request approved. This transfer must be renewed at the commencement of each year or voting rights will revert to the heir."

The chamber was filled with a tense silence. The old men were just staring at the new comers who had just claimed their seats.

"Well? Are we going to get on with it?" Salazar asked impatiently.

There was a few more moments of silence.

Albus eventually shook off part of his shock induced stupor. "What…. What just happened?"

"We claimed our seats, Lord Gryffindor and Lord Longbottom transferred their voting rights to Lord Hogwarts and Lord Black so they wouldn't have to miss a lot of school and attend all the meetings." Salazar explained with a heavy dose of irritation.

Xander was smirking again, trying to hold back his laugh. "None of you have ever done… or seen that done, have you?"

There was a lot of embarrassed shuffling and muttering. "It seems you were right Rick, none of these old geezers has rightfully and legally claimed an appropriate seat on the Council." Salazar scowled.

"Perhaps we should begin with the first item on the agenda." Albus began hastily.

What followed was perhaps the most boring four hours of Neville and Harry's lives. And Harry had spent most of his locked in a cupboard.

"They argued about the stupidest things!" Harry complained to Hermione as they sat in the courtyard. Percy had joined them as he had been considering a job in the Ministry.

"What sort of things?" He asked curiously.

"Standardization of the Thickness of Cauldron Bottoms." Neville quoted dryly.

"Surely that could be considered important in some circumstances." Percy reasoned.

"They argued over it for forty-five minutes!" Harry squawked. "Neville suggested they create a list of thicknesses for a variety of cauldrons for various uses."

"That… sounds… reasonable." Hermione said unsurely.

Percy nodded. "Very, a logical solution."

"They laughed at him!" Harry said angrily. "They didn't even listen, they just laughed and mocked. Xander got very angry."

"Did you convince them in the end?" Percy asked.

Both Harry and Neville gave a bitter snort of laughter. "They agreed to form a committee to determine the validity of the report that they were currently debating… which was compiled by a previous committee appointed the month before by the same Wizengamot."

"Did they discuss anything important?" Hermione asked desperately. She seriously hoped that it wasn't as bad as it sounded. It didn't bode well for the Wizarding world otherwise.

"Quidditch World Cup is being held here over the summer." Neville shrugged.

"Yes, it's been planned for the past two years. The first time since the… since the night you saved us Harry." Percy said with a sad smile. Xander had insisted that they treat that night as a celebration, Sirius agreed. James and Lilly would not want their son moping around after so long. So now it was the day that James, Lilly and Harry Potter saved the world.

"Yeah, some of them wanted to add restrictions and registration requirements for people like werewolves, leprechauns and something called Veela."

"That's terrible!" Hermione exclaimed scandalously.

"Don't worry, Xander got them to back off by demanding that every wand be publicly registered and require a license to use." Harry grinned. "They didn't seem to like that idea, so they shut up pretty quick."

Percy excused himself from the others and went in search of Xander. It was the end of the day and dinner was in a few hours, but Percy needed to ask some questions.

He managed to locate him in the DADA classroom chatting with Moody.

"Professor Harris, do you have a few moments so I could discuss some things with you?" Percy asked politely.

Xander and Moody shared a quiet grin.

"Feel free to use my office lads." Moody offered with a smirk. "I should really head up to the Great Hall if I intend to make it before they begin serving." He remarked as he hobbled out.

"Perc', take a load off and tell me your woes." Xander said indicating a desk in front of him.

Percy strode determinedly over and sat smoothly in the chair, Xander was perched on the desk in front of him with his feet on the chair.

"I graduate in a few weeks." Percy said with a thoughtful frown, as though carefully choosing his words. "I had thought to pursue a career at the Ministry, but having heard from my father and now Harry and Neville, it seems like a very… unhelpful place to be."

Xander studied Percy for a few moments. The young man was studious, fairly stuffy… but not too stuffy that it prevented him from having a lovely girlfriend. Sometimes he was too caught up in the rules to make compromises, but he knew the difference between a good rule and a bad rule… even if he still felt compelled to follow the bad rules simply because they were… rules.

"What is it you want to do in life?" Xander asked him.

Percy sighed and drooped in his chair. "I honestly don't know. I'm not athletic, intellectually gifted, courageous, outgoing… I enjoy working hard and being organized."

It was the 'courageous' word that caught Xander's attention. "Do you remember the first few days after I arrived? We were at the Gryffindor table discussing the various houses you would be more likely suited to?"

Percy nodded curiously as he straightened and paid attention.

"The reason we didn't re-sort everyone, is because Godric explained his reasons for where he placed people. It's all about potential. You, specifically, have the potential to be very courageous.

"Maybe you should think about pushing that possible aspect of your potential?"

"An Auror?" Percy asked in mild surprise.

"Why not?" Xander challenged. "You could handle the paper work and procedure in your sleep. You would just need to get used to the physical side of things.

"There are other options… working with Charlie and his dragons, curse breaking for the goblins, diplomat to some of the more dangerous creatures and beings like giants."

"Perhaps…" Percy straightened himself up, gearing to make a bold suggestion. "Perhaps you could implement the work experience program for sixth years that Dan and Emma Granger told me about."

"Oh?"

"When students are considering their options for a career in the mugg- non-magical world, they spend a few weeks working as assistants or observing people in the profession they currently seek to pursue."

"Huh, like interns." Xander mused.

"Similar, I assume, to when you allowed me to assist Aurors Tonks and Shacklebot in cataloguing your acquisitions at Borgin and Burke's."

Percy was soon assigned a part time job for the year following his NEWT exams to begin implementing the Work Experience program that was prevalent in the non-magical schools. Xander made it clear that it was his idea and he should get to initiate it. After successful completion of a single year, Percy would have been able to get a glimpse of many career possibilities and have an idea of what he wanted to do whilst helping those in the year below him find their own path.

Xander, Sal and Godric still patrolled the Forbidden Forest to clear up any other dark creatures. Harry, Neville and Hermione were part of the patrols to help with exercise and training. They had also taken to swimming in the lake. Harry had needed special lessons as no one had taught him how to swim. Through use of Gillyweed, suggested by Sal, they also visited the Mer-People village. Sal was the one involved with the Mer-People when Hogwarts was built, he had learnt their language and taught them his. Due to his thousand year absence, he had to start anew, this gave him the opportunity to teach Xander, Harry, Neville and Hermione. Luna and Ginny occasionally participated in these events.

The final few months of school passed in relative peace for Harry and his friends. He missed Hermione a lot as she was often ensconced in the library or her room studying on the subjects she wasn't taking OWLs for. She promised not to study over the holidays, much Harry's delight.

Sirius and Xander stayed abreast of the Wizengamot meetings with Sal. Godric would often accompany them, his hat sitting atop the heads of one of his brothers.

Xander had been wary about Dumbledore's possible actions and motives in his role as Chief Warlock, he thought he might use the position to hurt Harry or the school. Instead, Xander was pleasantly surprised to find him pushing for better treatment of so-called 'dark creatures' like werewolves. Albus lobbied for the Ministry to open relations with the giants.

The only thing that worried Xander, was the Tri-Wizard Tournament that Albus wanted to resurrect. It had a history of getting people hurt.

"It's a wonderful event!" Joyce gushed. "I started it with Hogwarts, we didn't call it the Tri-Wizard Tournament though." She frowned.

"Oh?" Xander queried.

"Mother called it the 'Wizarding Olympics'." Godric chuckled.

Xander just rolled his eyes. "And they said my sense of humour was lacking."

"I always enjoyed the Olympics and there weren't many sports at the time except duelling. I got together with Merlin and the kids and we put the plans together, then we approached Arthur and asked him to approach the other schools for us."

"What sort of… events, were there?" Xander asked.

"It was hard to come up with the magical equivalent of running and jumping. We developed scenarios for competitors to solve and compete in. Marks were awarded for methods, speed and success.

"One year we had the competitors attempt to escape from a dungeon. They had to avoid trolls and traps and a dragon. We-"

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa!" Xander butted in. "You made Dungeons and Dragons?" He asked in awe.

"It's not as if they knew what it was!" Joyce half whined in defence.

"You don't think that you might be the inspiration for it?" Xander retorted with a snort.

Joyce just grinned impishly. "Anyway, that was the sort of thing we had them do. Whoever got out the quickest got the highest marks for that. Whoever got out without being detected would get high marks."

"It seems a bit like overkill to use a real dragon." Xander said doubtfully.

Sal just snorted. "Why? I was there, I simply explained the situation to the dragon and they were often happy enough to play along. Sometimes I played the dragon myself!"

"And the deaths that occurred?"

"Likely the organizers didn't take the appropriate precautions or didn't give the competitors the correct warnings. There were no deaths when we held the Wizarding Olympics." Sal said, slightly defensively.

With that, Xander placed Sal in charge of the Tournament. Xander would merely attend to his regular duties as co-headmaster and Head of Security. He envisioned having to use both Goblins and Werewolves.

School ended peacefully. Hermione managed to gain top marks on all her exams, but most importantly she determined that she didn't need or want to take all the subjects for her OWLs, Divination was dropped like a hot potato. She was happy not to have to cast cleaning charms on her clothes after each lesson to get the smell of incense out.

Luna and Ginny were quite happy with the standard number of subjects and vowed to never follow Hermione's obsessive examples.

Harry and Neville were just happy to have passed. They had studied hard but never really enjoyed the theory as it was often hard for them to grasp. They were both practical people and were excelling in common sense thanks to Xander. But they did enjoy reading about subjects they were interested in such as Harry and the Fidelius and Neville and his plants.

Xander had a busy holiday coming up. He had to stay at Hogwarts for meetings about the upcoming tournament. It was being held at Hogwarts thanks to the Ministry, and Joyce and his brothers were all for it. Xander intended to spend all the time that was necessary to make sure the event was safe and secure.

*Chapter 22*: Chapter 22  
"There is no way this tournament is happening if I don't know what the events will be." Xander practically shouted.

"Tradition dictates that only the event organizers may know the details. The heads of the schools are prohibited from knowing in the spirit of fairness." Argued the British Head of International Co-Operation, Barty Crouch.

"Then I will state unequivocally that I will not allow my school to participate."

Xander was seated around a table in the Great Hall along with two department heads from the Ministry as well as the Heads of the other two schools, Madam Olympe Maxine of Beauxbaton and Igor Karkarov of Durmstrang. They were meeting in the second week of the holidays, the first week of August, to discuss arrangements of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

Somehow Sal had managed to fob off the Tri-Wizard tournament duties onto Xander. He would pay eventually… yes he would.

"That is not your decision to make." Crouch hissed.

"My school, my students, MY RESPONSIBILITY!" Xander roared.

"I agree wiz my colleague, Monsieur Harris." Madame Maxine declared sternly. Xander gave her tight nod of thanks. "Some traditions are simply not worth ze lives of our children."

"I am not sure I understand the issues." Karkarov stated with some confusion. "Surely the age restrictions and such vill ensure that the tasks are not beyond the abilities of the students?"

"Igor, let me put it to you this way," Xander began calmly, "if this tournament were to be held at your school, would you allow them to bring various dangerous creatures to your grounds that could destroy your property or injure your students?

"I want us all to know so that we can be prepared to protect all our students, not just the competitors. I fully intend to provide the selected competitors of all the schools with whatever additional training I can."

Igor frowned and steeped his fingers tapping his lips with the tips. "Hmm, I see your point." He mused. He then turned to Crouch. "Not only do I agree vith my colleague, but I must say that it is both foolish and arrogant of you to insist othervise." He reprimanded with a small yet calm scowl.

"Come now Barty, surely we can make some compromises?" Ludo Bagman, the Head Magical Sports and Games said jovially. The man rubbed them all the wrong way, he was simply… annoying.

"You would throw away countless centuries of tradition because of a few measly concerns?" Crouch asked incredulously.

"Get over yourself!" Xander scoffed. "This school has only been around for a thousand years, that's only ten centuries… not 'countless'. These traditions weren't even started with the original tournaments, you even changed the name!

"According to Lady Hogwarts, Lord Slytherin and the late Lord Gryffindor, this tournament is nowhere near what the original games were like. The written records reflect as much as well."

Crouch looked ready to spit fire. He was one of those who didn't believe that Joyce and her sons were the original founders and that they were imposters. Despite the evidence they provided.

Olympe stepped in before Crouch could erupt. "I believe, zat if you wish zis tournament to proceed as a government sponsored event, you will need to learn to compromise.

"But I warn you, we will not compromise on ze safety of our children."

"God I need a drink!" Xander groaned as he knocked on the door of Number 12 Grimauld Place.

Sirius had enlisted the kid's help in renovating his family home. Dan, Emma and Minerva were also helping out.

The door suddenly swung open and Xander was greeted by a screeching banshee.

"FILTH! MUDBLOOD SCUM! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING VERMIN!"

"For Merlin's sake get in here!" Sirius hissed as he grabbed Xander and dragged him in and straight an irate portrait and into the living room.

"Is there a reason you like having that woman screaming at visitors? I'll admit it would be a great deterrent to JW's."

"We tried everything!" Hermione moaned. "Silencing spells, cutting spells, axes, hammers mum even went and brought in some hydrochloric acid!"

"I was considering trying to contact some buddies back in the army for some C4." Dan murmured. "But I figured that might be overkill."

"No such thing, Dan." Xander grinned.

"In short, there is nothing we can do. Other than be very quiet." Neville sighed.

"Or you could give her a reason to behave." Xander shrugged.

"My mother's portrait is practically indestructible. We can't do anything to it." Sirius moaned.

"We could torture her mentally." Xander suggested.

"Torture?" Hermione asked. She had learnt not to jump to conclusions, Xander's idea of torture may not exactly match up with what other people thought of torture.

"Yeah, give me an hour to get some supplies and I'll sort it out." He said as he vanished.

Xander returned in less than half an hour carrying bags from the local Dixons and B&Q, an electronics and hardware store respectively.

"Right then, wasn't sure how well this would work, so I got a few extras." He explained as he began emptying the contents.

"A handheld TV?" Dan asked in amusement.

"And a video recorder?" Hermione asked intrigued.

"Yeah, I got two though."

"Xander… what are you planning?" Dan asked.

"Back in my old world, I wound up living with an annoying vampire; Spike. He had this unhealthy addiction to a soap opera called Passions. Unfortunately Joyce seemed to like it too. The rest of us hated it. Couldn't stand it. So, I figure we set up one of these TVs in front of the portrait and make it so it is the only thing she can see and hear. We set the VCR's to record the most annoying soap operas we can think of and show them to her non-stop. We make sure the last episode on each tape is a cliff-hanger and we don't show the next episode.

"Either she becomes so addicted that she will beg for the next episode or she will hate it and she will beg us to turn the rot off."

"Plus we can put a silencing spell on the sound proofing instead of the portrait." Hermione added.

"And what? We use this as a way to keep her in line?" Sirius asked.

"Yep, if this doesn't work there is show that is coming out in a few years that will really send her nuts, Teletubbies!"

"We could also let her watch the news. Maybe if she sees what non-magicals are capable of, she might change her tune." Emma suggested.

"Good idea… but I want to have my fun first!" Xander asserted.

In short order, Xander had created a makeshift arm for the small television and Mrs. Black was ensconced behind it watching the BBC's 6 o'clock news. He had consulted Joyce for he spells that powered the electronics and now they just had to wait… or do nothing as she was no longer a problem for them.

Meanwhile they where recording everything from Eastenders to Neighbours to prepare the torture. The old bat wouldn't know what hit her!

Harry, Luna and Hermione had spent the summer with Sirius, Minerva, Dan and Emma. Xander had been bouncing back and forth around Europe to meet and prepare for the upcoming Tri-Wizard Tournament after Sal had said he was no longer a head and they needed a head to represent them. Xander had asked Sirius to take his place with his family as it would be a good time for him and Harry to bond.

They had spent some of their time at the family home on the same street as the Granger's, much to Sirius' relief. He loved his godson and his friends, but had no idea how to deal with children… he was barely an adult himself… mentally at least.

Luna had invited Ginny over many times as the two were fast friends. Ginny often helped Luna with her newspaper articles, another thing that Sirius was grateful for as he worried the girl was slightly unhinged with her talk of unheard of creatures. Minerva soon explained her ability to see into Xander's old reality, it wasn't much of a comfort for the Marauder.

Today they would be travelling to meet the Weasleys at the campsite next to the stadium. Something that Xander ranted about continuously due to the copious amounts of unnecessary spells being cast on non-magicals. This had then set Hermione and Emma off. Before long, Luna had dedicated whole pages of the Quibbler to the crimes committed against muggles.

Harry and Hermione had made the most of their summer holidays. On advice from Dan, Sirius, Xander and most importantly, Emma, he had taken Hermione out on a few proper dates. Minerva usually played chaperone at a very discreet distance.

Emma had made sure Hermione understood that she may have to lead the relationship and suggest dates as Harry was still fairly stunted in his social development.

Together they enjoyed all the things that a young teenage couple should. Pizza, movies, snuggling, water being thrown over them when they got too amorous… the usual.

The most noticeable problem that Harry seemed to have, was that he didn't cope well in crowds. Dan said that was understandable for someone who spent most of their childhood locked in a cupboard living with cruel humans.

Hermione couldn't understand how he coped with Quidditch and meals in the Great Hall.

"Quidditch is easy, Dad helped me by pointing out that the crowds would be far more interested in the faster game between the chasers and beaters than watching me hunt for a snitch.

"The feasts and meals are harder, I'm just glad Dad gave me my own room in the apartment. I didn't like sleeping with the others, I rarely had a good nights sleep before Dad arrived." Harry explained.

They had tried going out to restaurants early in the summer, but both Minerva and Hermione had noticed that Harry was exceptionally jittery and barely ate anything. He was constantly on edge and looking over his shoulder. Hermione had called Minerva over they paid the bill and left quickly.

Once they got Harry to his bedroom, he broke down in tears and admitted he had been terrified and ashamed in the restaurant but didn't know why. Minerva and Hermione spent the night comforting him as he refused to let go of Hermione. All future meals were taken in a private room at the Three Broomsticks where Madam Rosmerta took it upon herself to see to their needs. Minerva usually enjoyed a meal herself with Sal in the main seating area.

Harry, Neville and Hermione had hit a growth spurt. Harry now reached Xander's shoulder Neville was slightly taller and was to his chin. Hermione was at that perfect height to rest her temple on Harry's shoulder. A position they were often found in.

They were seated at the perfect height to watch the game. The private box. The Ministers of both participating team's countries were present. Much to the kids delight, Fudge was ignored by the Bulgarian Minister in favour of Xander.

Fudge was annoying, what was worse was the Malfoys. It appeared that Lucius was no longer as interested in taunting Arthur and the other Weasleys as he was Harry… he still got his shots in though.

"My, my, my!" Lucius drawled. "Did you get lost Weasley? Surely you should be downstairs with a mop and bucket, not here with your betters?"

Arthur bristled but held his peace.

"Oh dear." Lucius said with mock disappointment as he spied Harry and Hermione. "You dragged such poor examples with you and… MUGGLES!" He shouted in horror. "You are so stupid as to bring muggles!"

Dan just grinned. "Em, sweetheart, remind me to always carry my muggle gun with me in the future."

Lucius just paled, especially as a hand appeared in front of Dan with a very familiar gun in it. Dan took the gun from Xander and expertly checked it.

"Lucius, unless you want to have another little midnight chat with me, I suggest you move along and keep your mouth shut." Xander said cheerfully. The Bulgarian Minister looked on with a frown. He had not approved of the white haired man's words. Had he said that to him or his family he would have demanded a duel.

"You should not have allowed him to say such things."

"Don't worry, Lucius fears me. He fears Harry too."

"That is not the point." The Minister said sternly. "If he believes he can say such things, then others vill too. Eventually they vill band together and you vill have much bigger problem. Vhen you defend the honour of yourself and your family, you allow others to follow your lead and defend themselves from such fools."

Xander frowned and thought about this. "Strange, I never thought of it like that. We said the same thing to Harry. His old guardians were abusive. We told him that if he didn't go through with the prosecution, they would just move on to others."

The Minister nodded approvingly.

Fudge was scowling ferociously. Not only was he being snubbed by the foreign dignitaries but now he had to warn Lucius to curb his ways. He doubted his white haired benefactor would want to try and take on a man who could kill a horde of Dementors.

Hermione and Harry were worried about an elf that was seated in the row behind them. She was obviously petrified of heights but was bravely holding her position for her master. She wouldn't move even though Harry and Hermione offered to save her seats for her.

The opening celebrations for the games began. The Irish Leprechauns were fun to watch, they had all been warned about the disappearing gold, that didn't seem to stop Ron from trying to horde as much as he could.

It was the Bulgarian Veela that nearly caused problems. Xander couldn't see why they affected the men like they did, but he, Godric and Arthur had to stop all the males from trying to leap off the edge to get to them. This unfortunately included Lucius and Fudge. Xander vowed to scrub himself raw after having to do something so dirty.

Luna and Ginny had to stop Sirius from taking a dive, but Hermione wound up fighting a very angry Harry and Sal had to step in.

"It's ok Hermione, I just need to get Harry away from here, we'll be back later." He assured them as they vanished. Luna and Emma took to comforting Hermione and keeping her calm.

Harry and Sal reappeared on the grounds of Hogwarts.

"Easy Harry, it's all gone now, try and relax and calm yourself." Sal said as he ran his hands soothingly through his brother/nephew's hair as he held him tightly.

Harry sat loosely on the grass as the trembling subsided.

"Harry, Sal, what's wrong?" Joyce asked as she appeared.

"There were creatures called Veela at the world cup, they seem to have a hypnotic and seductive ability. Harry doesn't have the necessary mind protections, but he was fighting. Fighting but failing, he was beginning to shift to his dragon form in defence." Sal explained quietly, trying not to agitate Harry.

"Oh dear, I have never met a Veela, but I have heard of them. They aren't evil, but they have the ability to be very dangerous. They are classed as dangerous and dark creatures in Britain, which is stupid. They are as dangerous as the average wizard." She scoffed.

"I'm going to research and see what I can discover, in the meantime, I believe Godric needs to train Harry." Sal declared.

Sal left Harry in Joyce's care and returned to the match to update everyone. Hermione decided to leave and join Harry as she only had a real interest in Quidditch when Harry was there. Emma joined her leaving Dan behind to enjoy the match.

Xander had the twins pay close attention to the match so Harry could watch it later in the Pensieve.

The match was a non-stop ride of excitement as the Irish Chasers practically demolished the Bulgarian defence and the Bulgarian Seeker, Viktor Krum, led the Irish Seeker on a very dangerous chase.

It ended badly for the Bulgarians as they lost the match when Krum caught the snitch as he realized his chasers had no chance of gaining on the Irish. The Weasley twins were ecstatic as they had made a bet that the outcome fulfilled completely. They were about to become very rich.

Harry, Emma and Hermione rejoined them at the campsite to at least enjoy the party. Harry needed cheering up as he was very down at having missed the match. The tent was filled with music and dancing, much to Hermione's delight as she loved to dance but was unable to take Harry out due to his issues with crowds. But here in private, with just their friends, he was able to relax and have fun with his girlfriend.

"It was brilliant!" Ron enthused. "The Irish Chasers were unbeatable and Krum was a hero!"

Hermione didn't really appreciate Ron calling Krum a hero. All he did was catch a little golden ball with wings. And he was paid to do it. Harry and Xander were true heroes. They fought a troll, a basilisk, Dementors and evil wizards. It seemed insulting to them. But she held her tongue as Harry and Xander said nothing and didn't seem to mind.

Harry had just finished watching the match as Joyce had given him the Pensieve to take with him. He had to admit it was a very exciting match. He suggested to Xander and Sal that they put the Pensieve memory up for viewing at the start of term for the rest of the school.

"You're really sad that you missed it, aren't you?" Hermione asked as she snuggled into Harry's embrace.

"Yes, but I'm more worried about the Veela thing. If I am vulnerable to their allure, then what about the Imperious Curse and compulsion charms?" He admitted.

"Well… you did say that Joyce and Sal were talking about having Rick teach you mind arts for protection, so hopefully it won't be a problem for long." She said as she gave him a squeeze.

"I'm just worried as I didn't know if I would be fully in control if I shifted. I didn't feel in control and I don't like the idea that the dragon would hurt someone… if that makes sense. I mean… I am the dragon, it's not a thing that possess me like a demon… but… I guess it would be like a werewolf without Wolfsbane or Xander around, I would give in to the more… dragon like behaviours."

"Baser or primitive instincts." Hermione said providing him the words he was looking for.

Harry nodded fervently. "Yeah… that's it exactly. All instinct and no control. We all know that Riddle will be back, he likes the Unforgivables, I don't want to lose control to that."

"Don't worry." Hermione assured him with a quick kiss. "That's why Xander is here, to help and train you. Now, are you up for another dance?" She asked coyly.

Harry nodded and gently pushed his girlfriend to her feet. They were just to the floor when they heard a commotion outside, the sounds of terrified screaming could be heard.

"Stay here, I'll check it out." Xander ordered.

Hermione clung to Harry with Luna grasping her big brother like a lifeline. Bill and Charlie Weasley instantly stood guard over Ginny and their younger brothers.

Sal, Sirius and Godric stood guard at the entrance to the tent as they watched the mayhem of people running and screaming outside.

"Dammit!" Sirius cursed. "We need to get out there and do some crowd control."

"Agreed, how is your teleportation?" Godric asked Sirius.

"I'm good to go. I can take three people to anywhere or anyone just like Hermione. I don't have the power like Xander, Neville or Sal to take more."

"Very well, I will stay with the children, you two head out and begin transporting the most vulnerable to Hogwarts. All the staff are there so there will be plenty of help." With that Sal and Sirius ran from the tent to help where they could. They could hear them calling out instructions with the Sonorus charm on.

"Hermione, go to Joyce and inform her of the situation. Have her prepare for wounded and refugees. Harry send the Weasleys and Grangers there as well." He turned to the aforementioned families. "Do what you can to supplement the castle workforce. They will likely need the help."

Seconds later the tent was filled with only Godric, Harry and Neville. Xander returned a minute or so later.

"Death Eaters have turned up and begun playing with a family of non-magicals. Amelia and I will be having words as there are no Aurors around." Xander growled.

"Whilst you guys handle the Death Eaters, perhaps I could be more useful calming the crowds?" Neville offered. "With phoenix song." He added at their confused looks.

"Yes! Excellent plan, Sal and Sirius could use the help." Godric said excitedly.

Neville ran out of the tent transforming in mid stride, the soothing sounds of the phoenix were soon heard and the crowd.

"Plan?" Harry asked.

"Find the Death Eaters, you teleport the non-magicals and Godric to Hogwarts Hospital Wing and then we take out the perpetrators." Xander said grimly.

"And by 'take out'… you mean…?" Harry queried.

"Capture is preferable, but don't let them get the drop on you. Remember that the only safe enemy is a dead enemy."

"Why didn't you just teleport us here?" Harry whispered as they approached the edge of the trees. They could see the men in robes and masks levitating the non-magical family above their heads whilst sending curses at them. There were children there and the woman was being degraded. Harry was getting very angry and having trouble staying in human form.

"Because you never jump blind into an unknown situation." Godric growled as he too was affected by the sight.

"Harry, send the non-magicals and Godric to the Hospital Wing, then you and I will instigate a little fear before we deal with these fools." Xander growled.

Ever since Xander had arrived in this reality, he had absorbed as much as he could about Tom Riddle and his Death Eaters. It seemed the self styled Lord Voldemort considered himself immortal. Or that at least seemed to be his goal.

Everyone has some fear of death… if they don't they have other mental issues. But someone who strives for immortality truly fears death and would gladly throw others in Death's path to avoid it.

Xander had decided sometime after learning of Riddle's desired name and the name of his followers that he would adopt his own name and wield his own weapon of fear.

As the Death Eaters realised that their 'toys' were gone there were shouts of anger and confusion.

"Who dares to interfere!" One of them demanded.

"I dare." Xander declared loudly as he stepped out of the tree line wearing a dark cloak and a hood to conceal his features. His yellow eyes glowed ominously as though floating in the darkness.

He was an impressive sight. One that made the Death Eaters take an involuntary step back.

"And who are you to keep us from our noble work?" The same Death Eater and clearly the leader demanded.

Xander chuckled darkly. He had called upon all his knowledge of Evil Overlord clichés and put together a persona for both himself and Harry.

"You may call me 'Death's Hand'." He said quietly. A modified Sonorous made certain he was heard despite his calm and collected voice. A truly terrifying Evil Overlord was one who seemed in complete control and never really lost his temper or raised his voice.

"We are Death Eaters, we serve the Mighty Lord Voldemort! Surrender now and we will make your end quick."

"You name yourselves after Death, yet my master does not know you. This will be a problem for you should he turn his attentions upon you."

Another thing Xander had decided, was that he would be the visible and active part of the partnership with Harry. Harry would play the role of Death, rarely seen but greatly feared. Harry was to work either behind the scenes or invisibly.

Clearly some of the Death Eaters were getting very scared as one of them snapped and began sending curses at Xander. Xander shielded as they hadn't resorted to Unforgivables, but just in case he began to sink into the ground looking eerily as though returning to the grave.

A new voice was heard that came from everywhere and had no discernible source. It was deep and booming, yet just as calm as Xander's.

"You claim my name and assault my servant. You are not worthy of my gift, so you will face the justice of your peers." The voice declared.

There was a sudden squeak from one of the Death Eaters as he noticed he was sinking into the ground even though the ground was not opening up. The other Death Eaters caught on and began to try and free themselves, but they couldn't move and were soon buried up to their necks.

Xander slowly rose from the ground combining phasing with flying. He was brimming with ideas for Halloween.

"My master has spoken. Be mindful of your actions lest you cause his eye to return to turn upon you." Xander declared as he vanished. He couldn't believe they were buying his hammy little act.

Xander and Harry returned to the campsite to aid Sirius and Sal only to find that the Aurors had finally arrived.

Xander was about to give a cover story when a green light lit up the sky and an image of a skull with a snake coming out of it's mouth hung in the sky.

"The Dark Mark!" An Auror gasped.

"Quickly follow me!" Sirius ordered.

The Aurors were highly trained sheep. Someone barked, they followed. As a result Sirius was leading a substantial crowd to the origin of the Dark Mark.

"Everyone, blanket stupefy!" Sirius shouted.

The field was suddenly lit up with red light.

"Every one move forward in a straight line and check the ground, someone could be there under an invisibility cloak or disillusionment."

It didn't take long before one of the Aurors called out that he had found something.

"It's an elf… isn't that your elf Barty?" Amos Diggory asked. "What's she doing with a wand?"

"How about you wake her up and ask her?" Xander suggested with a roll of his eyes.

Barty was clearly enraged and was tightly wound. He gave a sharp nod to Amos who revived the elf.

"Master Crouch sir!" The elf squeaked. She started looking around nervously as if she had lost something. "Where is Mas-"

"This means clothes Winky." Barty growled. "You know the law. Elves are not allowed wands, and here you are not just with a wand, but also casting a Dark Mark!"

"But Mas-"

She was cut off as Barty removed a glove and threw it at Winky who immediately began bawling her eyes out.

"Winky. Go to Hogwarts. I will find you a family to love and love you." Harry said firmly. He didn't bother waiting for the small creature to respond. He simply waved his hand and sent her on her way.

"You are an idiot." Sirius snapped. "Elves can't use wands. How the hell would she cast a Dark Mark?"

"She was found at the scene of the crime in possession of a wand. That was enough."

"She was found lying next to a wand. Not even touching it. Who's wand is it?" Xander demanded.

"Hmm, looks like Ron's wand." Arthur mused. "I wonder how it got here."

"Obviously your boy is into some dangerous and illegal stuff!" Crouch accused.

"Or… considering the fact that as soon as the commotion started Harry sent Ron and everyone else to Hogwarts, someone else stole it." Sirius countered in exasperation.

"You think the elf stole it?" Amos queried.

"Possible, but I doubt it. Winky seems dedicated. A dedicated elf would die before they disgrace the family. I have an elf who hates me. He wouldn't steal from someone else, but he would steal things if I threw them out."

They were interrupted by an Auror coming up to them out of breath. "Mr. Crouch… Death Eaters… captured!"

"Really!" Crouch said as grinned maniacally. "Lead the way."

"We'll be heading off then. I have to go and sort out the refugees at Hogwarts. Can we get the wand back?" Xander asked.

"It's evidence." Crouch snapped.

"It's fine. They can keep it. It was a second hand wand, Ronald could do with a perfectly matched one and we have enough money for it now." Arthur said as he led the others away.

Seeing that they had things in hand they left for Hogwarts to find the place in chaos.

Humans are panicky individuals who are prone to mob rule at the best of times. Wizards are worse. Magic makes them lazy and feel entitled to immediate results. It takes little more than a flick of a wand and a broken glass of milk is repaired and refilled. They expect the same with everything else.

The adults that had been transported to Hogwarts were demanding action and results. The children were frightened and scared. Joyce was getting ready to call in the suits of armour to knock some heads together.

"SILENCE!"

The Great Hall came to a standstill as Xander's voice boomed out.

"I seriously doubt that any of you are going to accomplish anything by shouting and making demands!" Xander snarled from the dais where the staff table sat. "I suggest, that unless you wish to spend a few nights in a goblin jail cell, you sit down and SHUT UP!" He roared.

"Who the hell are you?" One young man demanded.

"Harry."

"Yes Dad?"

"Knock him out."

"Yes Dad."

"Harry!"

"Yes Dad?"

"Magic, not fists."

"Yes Dad."

There was a thump as the upstart hit the floor.

"Next time someone might want to catch him." Xander pointed out.

"Why Dad?"

"Shut up Harry."

Sal and Godric soon began clearing the castle of anyone they could. They took the simplest method of grabbing the closest person to the doors and finding out which categories they belonged in:

Whole, hale and adult… send them home via the Floo which Joyce provided.

Whole, hale and underage… send them to a dorm room to rest whilst parents or guardians are contacted.

Injured… Hospital Wing and a stern tongue lashing as to why they aren't already there.

Anyone who decided they didn't fit into those categories usually found themselves in the depths of Gringotts for the night.

It was just after 2am before Xander, Sal and Sirius were able to join the kids in sleep. Minerva offered to stay up and watch over things with Joyce and Godric. She was promptly sent off with the reminder that the dead don't need to sleep. Which made Xander very unhappy as he had lived his more recent years by the motto: "You can sleep when you're dead!"

Three hours later and Xander was tempted to curse his own mother. Or the closest approximation, which in this case was Joyce.

"Joyce, it's like 5am, I'm just a mortal man, what could be so important that I need to be up now?" He moaned.

"Amelia is here. She has important questions about last night." Joyce said urgently as she kept shaking him. She knew that if she let up for a second he would simply fall asleep again.

"Xander, get up and let me sleep!" Nym moaned from next to him.

"Why do I have to get up and you get to lie in?"

"'Cause I'm cuter than you."

Xander groaned and sat up. "Not that I disagree with the cute factor… 'cause, you are adorable, but what the hell does that have to do with you getting a lie in?"

"You really want me grumpy? You've seen me during my time of the month."

"Right… sleep tight." He conceded as he kissed her forehead and followed a smirking Joyce out.

"Amelia… it's 5am… what the hell do you want?" Xander demanded angrily as he stomped into Minerva's office. He had just left his warm bed and his even warmer girlfriend.

"You know very well what Lord Hogwarts." Amelia growled. "We found five men embedded up to their necks in the ground. Only you and your family know that type of magic and everyone but you and Harry have been accounted for."

"Actually, you only know that me and my family know that magic. There could be plenty of others out there that have developed something similar." Xander corrected as he kept his expression clear. "Besides, what possible motive could I have for attacking these men?"

"You are well known to despise bullies and stand up for the innocent."

"And these men did neither?"

"These men are suspected of being the ones who tortured the muggles at the riots last night."

"So arrest them and interrogate them with the truth potion." Xander shrugged. "Or do you need me to help extract them from the ground?"

"We got them out and separated the embedded dirt from them, it was a very painful process." Amelia admitted with a grimace. The five men had been purebloods who squealed like pigs, her ears were still hurting.

"Then why are you bothering me with this?" Xander asked with a hint of annoyance.

"Because, you idiot, if you had stuck around for the Aurors I would have had no choice but to accept your demands and word regarding their actions. As it is, one of them was Lucius Malfoy. He has once again bought his way free."

Xander growled as his wolf eyes glowed. "Don't you dare blame me for this Amelia! It's not my fault your Ministry is so corrupt. I'm not the one who let them get away."

Amelia sighed and slumped in her seat. "I know, I'm sorry. It's just so damned frustrating. One of them was Lucius!" She moaned.

"So you said." Xander nodded grimly as relaxed back. "I will see if I can arrange some leaks to the press, I'm sure Luna will be able spare some space."

"Couldn't you just come forward and make a statement?" Amelia begged.

"No. It could be the catalyst for a war with the Goblin Nation, or even the Werewolves. It's exactly the reason why we hid our identities." Xander said adamantly. "I can however, arrange for my family to speak out against the Ministries actions and cause some issues and mayhem in the Wizengamot."

"Better than nothing I suppose." Amelia muttered dejectedly. "Sometimes I just want to quit and take Susan elsewhere."

"I know the feeling." Xander commiserated with a small smile. "But I doubt you or Susan would feel good about abandoning everyone else. Let's face it, would the person who took over from you be as corrupt as Fudge?"

Amelia thought about that for a second and then shuddered. "There would be a persecution of muggleborns and non-humans." She admitted.

"If worse comes to worse, I'll be sending the kids to Beauxbatons until they are old enough to legally make their own choices. Which means that Harry and Neville won't be going anywhere thanks to their status as Lords." He said grouchily.

"Surely they don't abuse that privilege?" She asked slightly shocked.

"Nah, they don't care that they are superior in rank to people like Malfoy. They trust Sirius and myself to handle the responsibilities, I just mean that they would use it to stay and protect others. It's the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff in them."

*Chapter 23*: Chapter 23  
It was a depressed Amelia and Xander that informed the rest of the family about the news regarding Malfoy and the other Death Eaters. Luna and Hermione immediately began drafting the following days issue of the Quibbler. Ginny would have stayed to help but Molly was highly distressed over the horrors of the World Cup and wanted her children at home.

The edition was sent out the following morning in time for parents to read it with their children before they were escorted to Platform 9 ¾. Needless to say that Draco and Lucius were on the receiving end of various glares and venomous looks.

Lucius never realised he left the station with pink hair and a fluffy tail.

On his return home he discovered his house being bombarded with owls. Luna had taken it upon herself to remind her readers that any howlers would simply be destroyed before they could be opened. She left instructions on how to have the owls deliver the howlers to just outside the property line. The owl would land, the howler fall off and seconds after the owl leaves the howler erupts.

Lucius had to walk through hundreds of howlers screaming abuse at him. What was worse was the thunderous look on his wife's face. She tore off her ring and threw it at him before storming out declaring she would have the lawyers contact him. He was beginning to regret his need to indulge in a little bit of fun.

They had finally made it through a whole train journey without Dobby, Draco or Dementors. It was a bloody miracle. It was fairly unusual, but Xander stood before the sorting began to make some announcements.

"This year, we will be playing host to some special guests for a special event. Rather than keep them waiting I will introduce them now." He announced with a huge grin.

"A round of applause for the lovely ladies of Beauxbatons Academy in France." Xander declared as he began clapping, the staff and some of the students joining them.

The attractive troupe of ladies dressed in blue practically flowed into the room causing males to drool and females to growl. Harry instantly went on edge as he felt a hint of what affected him at the World Cup: Veela.

"Harry, maybe you should leave." Neville suggested.

"No, I need to fight it… I need to control it." Harry growled.

"Neville, make some room, for someone to sit between you and Harry." Hermione ordered. Neville frowned but started to shuffle everyone along.

As soon as a space was cleared Sal teleported into the space.

"Thanks Nev, and good call Hermione." Sal said approvingly. "How's it going Harry?"

"Headache." Harry grunted.

"Just try to focus on the dragon being calm and protective. Think of it as a separate entity just sitting in your mind and doing all the work for you whilst you sit here and enjoy yourself. We can always go out for a fly and hunt later."

Harry closed his eyes and took a calming breath. He looked inward and imagined the dragon as Sal had said. He imagined it patrolling the perimeter of his mind and fending off pink waves of Veela allure. It worked for him.

Harry opened his eyes and was confused to see several new faces at the Gryffindor table, including three boys from Durmstrang and three girls from Beauxbatons.

"How long was I out and what's with the new faces?" He asked Sal.

"About twenty minutes." Sal chuckled. "The sorting is over, our guests have been sorted by Rick and these fine people are in your house. Xander will give more info after the feast, so tuck in. I'm heading back to my seat… Ron Weasley! Stop drooling!" Sal snapped. "Would someone slap him round the back of the head."

"OW!"

"Thank you Fred."

"I'm George."

Sal just stared at the twin.

"Fine… but you have to tell us how you know." Fred sulked.

Sal just smirked and vanished.

Ron, unfortunately, had gone back to staring at one of the Beauxbaton's students. She was clearly very uncomfortable and regretted sitting next to the young red headed boy on her left.

Fred, who was on her right with George decided to try and save her. "George, swap places with our orally challenged younger brother." He snapped.

George quickly stood and dragged his dazed brother out of his chair. Ginny had been watching the show and snickering away at the end of the table. "George, stick him in my seat and I'll take his."

Several minutes of musical chairs later and Ron was trying to figure out why he was seated with a bunch of third years.

"Where did Krum wind up?" Harry asked.

"Hufflepuff." Hermione smirked. "I don't know who was more upset, Ron or Draco."

"If he wound up in Hufflepuff then I definitely wouldn't mind meeting him, you find the best sort there."

The food appeared and they engaged in light conversation. "So, introductions." Fred declared. "The Drooling Wonder we just threw down the end is our youngest brother, Ron. The red head to your left is our baby sister, Ginny. I'm Fred, this is my twin George, we're the Weasleys.

"Across the way we have Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger and the one with the eye contact problem is Harry Potter."

"Is my allure too much for him?" Fleur asked. "I can try and move away." She offered.

"No… I'm fine." Harry said with a slight strain as he looked her in the eyes.

"Harry, this is Fleur Delacour." Hermione introduced as she realised that Harry was not aware during the sorting.

"Nice to meet you."

"And you. Are you sure you would not like me to move… I seem to be causing you pain."

"Harry is a Dragon Shifter." Neville explained ignoring the look of shock on Fleur's face. "He is fighting both your allure and the urge to assume his dragon form."

"Best to just ignore him and let him focus." Hermione offered. "Your English accent is very good."

"Thank you." Fleur smiled, she decided she would investigate the claims of the Boy-Who-Lived being a Dragon Shifter later. "I have spent time in Canada, it was primarily to help my English."

"Are you ok?" Ginny asked. She noticed that Fleur was hugging herself.

"I am just cold. My school and home are in the south of France."

"Hmm… how about a warming charm?" Ginny suggested. It was one of those things she instinctively knew how to cast having been on the receiving end from her parents when they went out in the winter.

"I did not want to be rude and draw my wand at the table." Fleur admitted sheepishly.

"Bah!" George said dismissively. "What kind of hosts would we be if we let you freeze?"

"George is right."

"How do you know who I am?" He demanded of Hermione.

"Because Sal pointed you out." She grinned. "Neville, would you help me let the other guests know?"

Neville just nodded and rose with Hermione.

"Should I help?" Ginny asked.

"Better not, little sis. We should probably stay put and maintain the barrier around Fleur."

So far Fleur was surprised by the treatment she had received. She had been warned by her family to be ready to defend herself from possible physical advances. She was also warned that she may receive other forms of abuse as she was considered a mere 'magical-creature' practically sub-human in Great Britain. If her father wasn't the Deputy Minister of Magic in France, she never would have been allowed on this trip, as it was she was on a diplomatic visa.

"Why does my allure not affect the two of you and Neville?" Fleur asked curiously.

"Not really sure, the Veela at the World Cup affected us, but that was a lot of Veela, maybe it's 'cause there is only one of you." George offered.

"As for Nev, not much is gonna affect a Phoenix." Fred chuckled.

"What does Headmaster Harris' Phoenix have to do with Neville?" She asked.

"Headmaster Ha- Oh! Xander." George just laughed. "We're so used to him being Xander as we knew him when he arrived here, and then he was just Harry's bodyguard."

"Neville is an magimagus Phoenix." Harry explained, the allure was a mere mild annoyance by now. He decided to ask Fleur to spend more time around them so he could get used to it.

"A ma… a what?"

"Neville can turn into a Phoenix." Hermione said as she and Neville rejoined the table.

"That's it Hermione, tell all my secrets." Neville groused.

"Exactly how is that a secret?" Ginny demanded. "The whole population of the World Cup campsite saw you flying around."

"You- You're not joking?" Fleur asked as her already pale face paled even further.

"No, and we weren't joking about Harry being a Dragon Shifter. Sal is one too." George confirmed.

"Sal and I will be going out to fly and hunt later tonight, if you can't make it then look out your window, there will be three dragons flying around." Harry chuckled.

"Three?"

"Norbert, or Norberta, she's a normal dragon and how we realised that Harry was a Parselmouth." Hermione explained.

Fleur's new friends continued to feed her useful information about themselves and Hogwarts. She knew Harry was the Boy-Who-Lived, it had been international news when the British Civil War, as it was known to the rest of the world, came to an end at the hands of a fifteen month old baby boy. She was surprised to find out that Headmaster Harris was Harry's adopted father and that both Headmistresses were his adopted mothers. She had a blinding headache by the time the twins and Neville had finished attempting to explain Harry's immediate family tree.

The British were so weird.

As the empty plates were cleared away, she watched as Headmaster Harris stood to address the student body.

"Right my little minions and minionettes." He declared as he rubbed his hands together evilly. "Basic rules apply as always, no malicious magic. If you don't know what malicious magic is, then consider the spell you wish to cast and whether you would appreciate it being cast on you. If you wouldn't, it's malicious.

"No practical jokes! Mr. Filch has a full list of banned items, see him for a copy if you are not sure, it is currently two feet long!"

Fleur wasn't sure if she should be worried at the glint that appeared in Harry's eye.

"The Forbidden Forest… is no longer forbidden! It has been cleansed of dark creatures. The Acromantula colony has been eradicated. If you go in and get lost then send up red sparks and a Centaur or Werewolf will come and guide you back to the castle."

Fleur was shocked at that entire statement. Firstly, Acromantula usually required armies to deal with, and usually ended with many dead wizards and witches.

Secondly, Centaurs were known to help and aid children freely, but they hated doing anything for wizards, she wondered what had happened to make them cooperate, she hoped it wasn't anything sinister.

Thirdly, the werewolves being in the forest and allowed near children was horrifyingly irresponsible. They were considered highly dangerous in nearly every country and some countries required mandatory sterilisation. There was no evidence to suggest they could give birth to a werewolf, but for one night a month the baby would be at great risk from it's parents. She would have to write her father about this. Her baby sister was coming to watch the tasks.

"Now, the big news! The Tri-Wizard Tournament is being held here this year. Hence our honoured guests. The age limit for entry is seventeen, sorry, but I didn't even want the damned tournament, I was outvoted… I'm smart enough to know not to argue with my mother." Xander received a few chuckles.

"Quidditch will continue, but… if a player is selected as a Champion for the Tournament, they will not be able to play Quidditch.

"There will be one Champion for each school. We will be explaining how to enter your names later and the Champions will be selected on Halloween. Hermione has promised not to go looking for Trolls, Harry has promised not to play with large snakes in the castle and Sirius has promised not to storm said castle." Xander declared causing more snickers.

Fleur listened with interest as Headmaster Harris continued with his explanations. He was intriguing. He had yellow eyes, almost… wolf like. He was the Headmaster of a British school, but he had an American accent and he appeared quite young. He was relaxed in his mannerisms, speaking to the student body as though they were close friends who he teased and needled everyday.

He also seemed to exude a sense of power. No one else seemed to be affected by it so she wondered if it was something to do with her being Veela. She was seated some twenty meters from him, she worried what would happen if they were closer.

Fleur was dragged from her musings by all the students standing and starting to make their way out of the Great Hall.

"Fleur, why don't you grab your other school mates and I'll lead you to the Hospital Wing." Hermione offered.

"Hospital Wing?" She asked in befuddlement.

Ginny snickered. "I believe our young Veela was slightly distracted by our dashing Headmaster."

"I- I- I-" Fleur just stuttered embarrassedly.

"You should talk to Nym. She is expecting you." Said a dreamy voice from behind Harry.

"What do you know Luna?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"A little of this, a little of that." She said with an evasive smile. "Oh, and I will help spread the plan for your prank. It is devilishly sublime!" She grinned evilly as she waltzed off.

"Harry! You have a prank planned and didn't invite us?" Fred demanded with mock effrontery.

Harry looked flustered and defensive. "I only came up with the idea during Dad's announcements!" He whispered harshly.

"Fine." Fred shrugged.

"But we want in!" George added firmly.

"The plan requires most of the school!"

Fleur's attention was split between Harry, Neville and the twins and Ginny and Hermione who were gathering her fellow Beauxbatons students and leading them out of the Great Hall.

Fleur found herself seated in a row of chairs along with her schoolmates and the new female first years of Hogwarts. She had been unable to extract the reason for their visit to the Hospital Wing from Ginny or Hermione. The school nurse, Professor Summers and Madame Maxine were standing in front of the female students.

"Ladies, approximately two years ago one of our own was attacked." Joyce began as Luna stepped forward and leaned into Joyce's arms. "Luna, my adopted daughter, was kidnapped from her dorm room, stripped naked and left to the devices of several older boys."

There were gasps of shock and fear. Fleur and the older Beauxbatons students were beginning to question the sense of coming to live in a mixed environment for a year if this was the result. But Madame Maxine seemed, relatively unconcerned, clearly not happy about what happened to Luna, but not worried about her students.

"I am happy to tell you that she was saved before anything could happen thanks to the security setup in the school."

"And Harry." Luna chirped proudly.

Joyce chuckled. "Yes, and my adopted son Harry.

"Harry is important as to why you are here. Harry was the one who rescued Luna, since then he became very protective of her and adopted her as his sister even before myself and Headmaster Harris adopted her.

"Harry was far more traumatised than Luna over the situation. Harry has many social issues as a result of those that raised him." Joyce practically spat causing the young ladies to flinch.

"Tell them the good part!" Luna insisted.

Joyce smiled at Luna indulgently. "Harry worked very hard for several months. He nearly made himself ill, causing great worry for his family.

"Eventually, he emerged triumphantly from his room. He had developed a protection charm that could prevent sexual assault of various types."

The younger girls perked up at this, they had been warned and instructed to be careful around boys. The older girls, including Fleur were sceptical.

"Haaaarrrrryyyy!" Luna sang with a grin.

"Hey Luna, what's u-" Harry froze as he noticed he was in the Hospital Wing with lots of girls staring at him. "You promised you wouldn't make me do this again!" He whined at Luna.

"They need proof, so unless you intend for one of us to strip down, your hands are best." Joyce said, backing Luna up.

Harry just grumbled under his breath and turned his back for a few minutes before turning around again. The girls started to giggle at his antics.

"Fine, you talk. I magic."

"Such eloquence." Joyce said sarcastically, Xander was a terrible influence.

Over the next few minutes Fleur and the other girls were shocked as Harry went from being a normal boy with one hand to a normal boy with two hands. Joyce and Poppy elaborated on the function and procedures to create and use the charm properly.

"Harry named this the 'Lily Charm' after his mother who sacrificed herself to save Harry as a baby." Joyce explained. "Any questions?"

One of the older Beauxbatons students raised her hand.

"Will 'Arry be applying the charm 'imself?" She asked with a saucy smirk.

Harry paled. Turned to Joyce and said. "Goodbye!" Before vanishing with a dark scowl.

"I believe that answers your question." Luna grinned.

Once all the ladies had had the charm applied and tested, Luna and Joyce led them up to the top of the Astronomy Tower. Being the beginning of September it was still relatively warm and the sky was clear. That would soon change in the coming days as autumn arrived in full.

The sight that met their eyes was incredible. The sun was beginning to dip beyond the horizon, turning the sky orange and bleeding into red and purple. The stars were beginning to peak through the late day.

But that was not what held their attention. Flying in circles and cavorting in the air were three dragons and two Phoenixes and a snowy owl. It was a sight that could only be found in one place in the whole world, here at Hogwarts.

They suddenly started to fly higher and blasting each other with small gouts of flame. Occasionally one would get hit and would drop to the ground before spreading wings and landing gently. Only one of the dragons seemed to be able to hit a Phoenix. The owl would fly amongst them but never get hit, why, was a big mystery.

"Oh Lord." Joyce groaned.

Luna giggled. "Dobby?"

"Yes Missy Luna?" The elf asked as it popped in.

"The boys are playing with fire again." She grinned as she indicated the fire fight occurring in the skies.

"Dobby will prepare the soaps and scrubbing brushes." He sighed before popping out again.

All this was missed by the other girls as they stood transfixed by the aerial display above them.

Eventually the dragons and phoenixes tumbled to the ground lightly. The girls were surprised to find themselves suddenly standing on the grass not twenty feet from the fierce and majestic creatures as opposed to on the tower.

They started to back away fearfully.

"Alright boys, change back." Joyce ordered sternly.

The girls froze as one of the Phoenixes and two of the dragons became bi-pedal humans. Humans that were covered from head to toe in soot and ash.

"C-c-can we d-d-do that?" One of the new first years asked hopefully as she struggled to overcome her nerves.

Joyce smiled at the young girl. "You won't be able to become magical animals like these three, but you will be given the option to try and become a normal animal, but there is no way to choose your animal. We will be giving instructions and details later.

"You three, Dobby is waiting for you with soap and scrubbing brushes. Do not go traipsing through my castle!" She warned the three former combatants.

They had a distinct look of horror before they vanished, Sal was heard to mutter "Bloody sadist" as he went.

"Can't they be cleaned with magic?" A new Ravenclaw asked.

"Unfortunately no. Magical fire creates magical soot and ash which is fairly resistant to magical cleaning." Joyce answered.

*Chapter 24*: Chapter 24  
Dear Papa,

I know it has only been a week but I felt there were some things I needed to tell you and that you would want to know.

First, let me assure you that I have been well treated here. The English students have been very willing to accept me and my fellow foreign students, some have even defended me from the bullies of the schools. I have been invited into a group of friends which includes Harry Potter. It seems that he is a Dragon Shifter and his best friend, Neville, is a Phoenix animagus, but they call it a magimagus. We were treated to a magnificent sight of three dragons and two phoeni (phoenixes? Which is correct?) and a snowy white owl playing in the air above Hogwarts on our first day. It is a sight I will treasure forever and hope to show you in a pensieve soon.

Harry was eager to spend more time around me, but not because of my allure attracted him. He says that the dragon tries to emerge and protect him because my allure is invasive to him. He hopes prolonged exposure will strengthen him. He is a wonderful boy and I do not mind especially as he is clearly in love with his girlfriend, Hermione, who has befriended me with his adopted sister Luna and their friend Ginny.

Having spent much time with Harry and his friends, I have spent a fair amount of time with his father, Xander Harris. He seems completely unaffected by my allure, he claims he has some theories as to why but seems very reluctant to share them. His girlfriend, Nym, spends a lot of time with me and assures me that he will tell me eventually.

Papa, I know one of your greatest fears for me coming here, was that I would be sexually assaulted. Harry Potter adopted Luna as his sister after he stopped an attempted rape on her. He then spent many months creating a charm based on the Fidelius Charm that can effectively prevent such violations from occurring. It was such a break through that it has already been introduced to their medical people and nearly every female in the country is protected. Even the ones in their prison.

I beg you to bring Gabrielle to Hogwarts to have the charm placed on her. It is very safe and has many protections in it to prevent accidents. Please raise this issue with the Veela Council and the Ministry of Magic as it is something that even men would wish for.

But, I must now tell you the real reason I am writing so soon after arriving.

We were told on the first day during the school announcements that there are many werewolves living in the nearby forest. We were even told that we could venture into the forest and the werewolves or centaurs would guide us back to Hogwarts if we got lost.

I thought werewolves were dangerous at all times? Is this not true? I understand there are werewolf communities in France, but I thought they were forbidden around children, even their own?

I await your advice.

Love

Fleur

Alain Delacour stormed into the Great Hall of Hogwarts ignoring the fact that it was filled with children, he marched straight to the table where the staff were seated. His opinion of the school was falling even more. Werewolves roaming free and amongst the children and even he could march straight through without any security stopping him. This Headmaster Harris was going to get a good piece of his mind. He simply couldn't understand why that Fudge character was afraid of the man.

"Where is Headmaster Harris? I demand to speak with Headmaster Harris." Alain demanded furiously.

He was mildly pleased to notice the children try and edge away from him. They clearly saw he was a man to respect he smirked a bit.

"No you idiot." Said a burly bearded man further down the table, reading his face. "They are trying to avoid the blood splatter from when my brother rips you to pieces."

"Not to mention his mother." Said a blonde haired woman sitting near the middle next to a man with yellow eyes.

"And his son."

"And daughter."

Alain was shocked to hear the two children's voices from behind him. He was a little confused and unsure of himself. He was actually having trouble remembering why he had stormed the castle in the first place.

"I- I- I… erm."

"Maybe you could start with an introduction?" The witch from the other side of the yellow eyed man asked with a Scottish accent. He felt lucky she hadn't threatened him as well, the look in her eyes was enough.

"Delacour… yes! I am Alain Delacour!" He said triumphantly, finally he was getting somewhere… he wasn't sure where, but at least he wasn't stalled.

"Fleur's father?" The blonde woman asked in astonishment.

"Does your wife know you are here, Mr. Delacour?" The burly man asked.

"I- My wife? What? No, she doesn't." Alain had no idea why Apolline his wife would be involved.

"That explains that then." He chuckled. "Having spent some time with your daughter, I assume she gets her temperament from her mother."

"Ok, that's enough." The yellow eyed man declared as he stood up. "Mr. Delacour, I have no idea why you decided to barge in and disturb our breakfast, but I have several grumpy werewolves moaning at me because I didn't let them take you out.

"First you will apologise to my pupils for your interruption. Then you will apologise to your daughter for embarrassing her. Then you and I will take a walk and discuss whatever it is you came here for."

Alain did not like to be ordered about. He was beginning to wish he hadn't ordered his entourage and bodyguards to remain in France.

"And if I refuse?" He asked haughtily.

"You will be forcibly ejected from the grounds." He then growled, it was terrifying. "And I doubt your daughter or wife will forgive you anytime soon."

Alain looked to where the man indicated and saw his daughter with tears streaming down her face as several people tried to comfort her. He also noticed a large dark shape inches behind him, a warm breeze was pushing at him.

"I don't say this often Harry, but don't you think that's overkill?" The yellow eyed man asked the dark shape behind him.

The next voice he heard chilled his bones and nearly voided his bowels. It was deep, gravely and loud, despite not being a shout. "He hurt Fleur, insulted everyone. I should get to play."

Alain stiffly shuffled his body around to face the voice. He was not expecting to see nothing but teeth and scales. His eyes slowly rose up and took in the full size of the dragon that was inches away from making him his next meal.

"I want to play too!"

The overly chipper declaration and the sight of the young blonde girl poking out from behind the giant head of the giant dragon was too much for the Deputy Minister of Magic for France.

He fainted.

"Thank you very much Harry. I was hoping to enjoy my breakfast before I had any patients." Poppy groused at the sheepish looking dragon.

"Harry, change back." Minerva instructed authoritatively as she took charge. "Poppy, take care of Monsieur Delacour." She waved her hand and the man vanished causing the foreign students to gasp. "He's waiting in the Hospital Wing for you when you finish.

"Miss Delacour, when you are finished, we will visit your Headmistress and mother. I am sure she will be anxious to here what her husband has been up to." Minerva said with a kind smile.

Fleur simply stood with a steely resolve. Her Veela magic cleared her splotchy face. "I am ready when you are Headmistress." She said respectfully.

Minerva saw that the girl could use an escape so she indicated for Fleur to follow and they left, Minerva wasn't surprised when Hermione accompanied Fleur for support.

Alain struggled through the fuzzy haze that separated him from consciousness. He could hear muffled voices and focused on them, shaking his head slightly to clear it.

"I see you are awake, Alain."

Why the devil was his wife there? Wasn't he at Hogwarts in Scotland?

"Polly?" He murmured sleepily.

He suddenly felt a large hand grip his arm and he was suddenly very awake with the yellow-eyed man staring down at him.

"What did you do?" Alain asked. "And who are you?"

"I gave you a jolt to wake you up quicker. I think it's like an Enervate spell, only I don't know 'cause I don't use a wand. Oh, and I'm Xander Harris." He grinned.

"No more stalling!" Apolline Delacour demanded. "I want to know why you stormed this man's school and embarrassed yourself, your daughter and your country!"

Despite being very awake, Alain still needed a few seconds to process the questions and formulate a response.

"Werewolves! Fleur wrote to me and told me that there were werewolves roaming freely amongst the children." He said beginning to regain some of his outrage that had prompted his Norman Invasion.

"So?" Alain then noticed that the young boy who claimed to be Xander's son was sitting on the bed next to his with his legs crossed.

"So? Don't they teach you anything in this school?" Alain demanded.

Alain's eyes widened as the boy emitted a very deep growl.

"Harry, you control yourself or leave." Xander admonished sternly.

Harry just grunted and slouched. "Still hasn't answered my question."

Xander shrugged at Alain. "Well, Monsieur Delacour?"

"Werewolves are dangerous! One bite and you become one of them. They are forbidden around children."

"In France." Xander added.

"Anyone with any sense would do the same." Alain declared.

"No, anyone with your narrow mind set would do the same." Xander corrected. "You ever spent time with werewolves when it wasn't the full moon?"

"Are you deaf or insane? Didn't I just say that that would be suicide?"

"ENOUGH!" Apolline screeched. "All these years we have been together, Alain, and I have never known you to be so narrow minded!"

"You have never had to deal with werewolves or their victims." Alain spat.

"I am Veela! Veela have spent centuries caring for werewolves that seek aid."

"Really?" Xander asked in surprise. "I never knew that, but then again, I don't think there are any Veela in this country."

"Yes, because of the persecution we face from the British, we fled to the mainland." Apolline explained.

"Should I assume we have an abundance of werewolves here for similar reasons?" Xander asked.

Apolline just nodded sadly. "Werewolf males were favoured mates among the Veela. Likewise Veela were favoured mates or companions for all werewolves as during the full moon we could sooth their transition and violent tendencies with our allure. There is a mutual attraction."

Alain looked horrified at the thought. "My daughters will have nothing to do with werewolves." He declared.

"Too damn late." Harry snarled.

"Language." Xander warned.

Harry just stared at him in disbelief. 'Damn' was not usually a banned word.

"Our mother is getting stricter. She's even working on Nym, that is not going down too well." Xander said with an apologetic shrug.

"What do you mean 'too late'?" Alain demanded.

A quick mental conversation between Harry and Xander and they decided not to reveal his status… yet.

"My uncle is a werewolf. He is often here in the evenings with the rest of my family." Harry said proudly. "Fleur spends time with us sometimes, they have very in depth conversations about the school for werewolves that he runs."

Alain looked at Apolline triumphantly. "See! They have placed our daughter in danger!"

"Our daughter told me about Professor Lupin." Apolline fumed. "She described him as the gentlest soul she had ever met… apart from a girl named Luna."

"And he hides a beast that could rip her to shreds and destroy her life." Alain spat. "I am removing my daughter from this-"

Whatever Alain Delacour was about to say was lost in a blast of red light as Apolline stunned her husband.

"Headmaster Harris, I apologise for my husband. I very much don't want to destroy Fleur's dreams." She said sadly.

"Maybe we should let him have his way for a few days?" Harry suggested.

"I hear a plan in there kid." Xander grinned, which Harry returned.

"Let the idiot take Fleur home. In three days time I will kidnap him and take him to the werewolf village."

"Three- the full moon?" Apolline asked.

"Yep, he can spend all night cowering whilst a bunch of oversized puppies lick him silly." Harry giggled.

Alain was quite proud of himself. He had rescued his daughter from the clutches of the insane British Wizard who sent children into the hands of werewolves.

The only problem was his wife and daughter were so angry with him that they refused to be in the same room as him.

They had thrown him out of the house and he was relegated to sleeping in another house he owned. If this continued, he would begin to have troubles at work and in the press, they would love the scandal of the Deputy Minister having trouble at home. Rumours of affairs would run rampant.

Alain checked the clock, it was 4pm. He felt another wave of satisfaction. The full moon would rise tonight and his family would be nowhere near those evil beasts.

Alain spun as he heard the Floo fire up. It was restricted but it paid to be careful, he stood wand in hand. He lowered it slightly as his wife, two daughters and a fourth figure came through. The fourth somehow managed to tumble through into his family sending them all to the ground.

"I told you I should have gone first!" The voice spoke in English and was very familiar.

"Yes Harry, we will definitely listen to you in future." Fleur responded in English.

Why was Harry Potter here with his family? It could not be a good thing, he had very little respect for the boys father but couldn't imagine he would send the boy to make apologies on his behalf.

"In your own time Harry, I see no need to drag this out by engaging him in pointless debate. Maybe facts seen with his own two eyes will sway him." Apolline said tiredly.

Alain was about to enquire as to what was going on but he found himself in the middle of a quaint little village surrounded by trees where a number of people were gathering in the village square.

"Welcome to the Lunar Village." Harry said with a grin.

"Where are we? Why are we here?" Alain demanded.

"As Harry just told you, we are in Lunar Village. It is the werewolf village in the Magical Forest on the grounds of Hogwarts." Apolline informed him tightly.

Alain looked to the setting sun and began to panic. "We have to get out of here! These monsters will tear us to shreds!"

"Monsters? Are there really monsters coming mummy?" A little boy asked.

"Now what sort of monster could possibly defeat Harry?" Another familiar voice asked from behind Alain.

"Xander!" The boy cried along with several other children.

"Hey kids, ready for the puppy pile?" Xander asked as he strolled past the trembling Alain Delacour.

Alain watched in horror as the moon rose and the adults and some of the children began to contort and transform into their wolf form. Alain backed up as quick as he could only to bump into something large and warm. He quickly spun around to bypass the obstacle and found himself face to face with a huge black dragon.

"Are you really such a fool, husband, that you would ignore your own wife? I have first hand knowledge of dealing with werewolves. These werewolves would never hurt you. Lord Hogwarts says he will reveal the secret in the morning.

"For the time being, I suggest you relax before Harry decides to play with you."

Alain was staring at the huge dragon, barely hearing his wife's irritated voice. He felt something tugging at his trousers and looked down to see the young boy who had spoken earlier and a small wolf puppy. Alain was confused as to where the puppy came from before he realised it was a werewolf child.

His current situation became clear to him, he scooped up the boy and hurried over to his wife and children.

"Come, we have to run!" He hissed as he tried to grab Gabrielle, his youngest daughter's hand.

"Petrificus Totalus."

Alain slowly fell to the ground as his wife's binding spell immobilised him. Harry, not really caring about the man's health but wanting to prevent the boy he was holding from being hurt, slowed his fall.

"Pack," Xander called out to the assembled wolves all milling around. "this man needs proof that werewolves are not dangerous in controlled circumstances and that you lot aren't a danger to the kids. Have fun!"

For the next hour Alain was held in place by the spell as nearly every werewolf came up and either sniffed him or gave him a lick. He was particularly smelly when Xander released the binding.

"So, have we proved our point?" Xander asked as Alain used his wand to clean himself. "Or do you need to speak with the Centaurs and Unicorns first?"

Alain looked to were Xander indicated and saw several centaur foals and unicorns playing with the younger werewolves. Without a doubt it was a fairly huge statement.

"I suppose you have." Alain admitted nervously. He still couldn't shake the fear. No mere hour would.

"Try and relax. These guys and gals wouldn't hurt you. If I'm not around then they have plenty of Wolfsbane potion, if that runs out they have secure basements to lock themselves in and the Centaurs are always around to monitor things." Xander assured him.

"Wait… aren't they on the potion now?" Alain asked as his fear spiked.

"Nope, something else keeps them sane and in control whilst I'm around." Xander saw the curious look on his face. "I'll show you when the sun rises."

Alain sat next to Xander as they watched the human children and his family play with the puppy werewolves. Above them Harry relaxed in the air keeping a discrete eye on things.

Eventually the dawn came and Alain grimaced as the werewolves resumed their human forms. They tottered tiredly off to recover some sleep as they collected their families.

"There was one werewolf you didn't see today, Monsieur Delacour." Xander said quietly, without looking at the man.

"Oh? What's so-" Alain froze as he saw the huge wolf sitting where Xander had been moments before.

"I am the Omega Werewolf." Xander growled in his gravelly voice. "I am essentially the king of the werewolves. They actually consider me more 'godlike' though."

There was a quiet thud and Xander tilted his lupine head down to see Alain passed out on the grass.

"I didn't think it was that bad." Xander whined, an unusual sight to see on such a fierce looking creature. "Why are you on the floor?" Xander asked as he noticed Apolline and her oldest daughter on their knees with their foreheads touching the ground.

"You are the Lupine King." Apolline declared reverently.

Xander flowed into his human form. "Yes, I believe I just said that. So why is there a couple of Veela kneeling down to me? Even the Goblins don't kneel, just bow." He said as he physically lifted the two ladies to their feet.

"It was prophesied that you would come and re-unite the Veela and Werewolves and together you would bring them up as equals amongst humans."

Xander closed his eyes and sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "FIRENZE!" Xander shouted to one of the Centaurs that had come for the full moon.

"Xander." Firenze acknowledged with a tilt of his head.

"Do you know about a prophecy saying I'll unite the Werewolves and Veela?" Xander asked in irritation.

"We do." Firenze responded simply and unconcernedly.

"And you didn't mention this before… because?"

"It was not ours to discuss." He stated calmly before he trotted off.

"It's a damned good job we live long lives or I'll never get this finished." Xander sighed. "Fine, let's get your dad up to Poppy and then I need to have a strong word with Joyce."

Alain Delacour woke later in the day at home with his wife and Xander present. Xander was there merely to assure Alain that he wasn't dreaming. Fleur was already back at Hogwarts. Joyce had apologised profusely to Xander claiming she had no clue that this was all pre-ordained.

Nym and Luna began to take a much more willing Fleur off on secret meetings now. Xander didn't want to know.

Harry and the twins had begun to implement Harry's prank. It was subtle and understated… yet highly annoying to the victim.

It was Monday, the quietest day of the week for Argus Filch. All through the weekend he had chased after the unruly and dirty kids and cleaned up after them. Xander had offered him a team of wizards or house elves to assist him. But truthfully, he liked to work alone and found the manual labour to be therapeutic.

Monday was the day when he sat in his office with his feet on his desk and read the latest trashy romance novel that had found its way into the lost and found box.

But not today.

Minutes after breakfast there was a knock on his door. A first year boy was asking for a copy of the banned items list. He wanted to make sure his parents didn't send him anything on it.

Argus grunted and handed over one of the ten copies he kept on hand, just in case.

Just as he did, another boy from a different house appeared and requested the same thing for similar reasons. Maybe Xander's warnings were more effective than Dumbledore's.

At lunchtime, a group of five third years appeared. They didn't appear to be together, but they all wanted a copy of the list so that they could make sure they didn't get anything on the list during their first trip to Hogsmead.

Just before dinner, three second years appeared and requested the list to send to their parents as they had younger siblings starting the following year.

Argus was surprised. No one had ever requested the list before, and now he had just handed out all his copies. Just in case he sat down and wrote out another copy.

After lunch a seventh year girl appeared and requested a copy to use as an example of grammar and list writing by a professional. Argus was so flattered that he dreamily handed over his latest list before realising he would need to write another.

By the time he went to bed Argus was beginning to realise that he was being pranked. But Argus Filch had been around kids for a long time and knew how to handle them.

By Saturday a large portion of the student body had come down with a severe case of carpal tunnel syndrome. And Harry was being blamed.

Argus had decided not to replace all his copies himself. Instead, every time a pupil came and asked for one, they found themselves copying out his original ten times in order to ensure the caretaker had enough copies. The list ran to over a foot in length and made Hermione's essays look like book blurbs.

Argus had regaled Xander and his brothers with tales of the hapless students to the sound of sloshing beer and laughter at the Three Broomsticks.

Harry was not the happiest of bunnies, but he grudgingly admitted that he had been brilliantly counter-pranked.

Saturday was also the day that the students began putting their names forward as Champions for the tournament. Xander had insisted that the Goblet of Fire be available for a long period of time so that the students would not need to rush into a decision.

The Goblet had been transferred in from the Ministry and would be guarded night and day by rotating squads of combined Goblins and Werewolves to challenge anyone not eligible to enter.

The students of all three schools gathered in the expanded classroom where the Goblet would be kept. They had simply had Joyce change it to match the Great Hall. Fudge, Crouch, Bagman, Maxine and Karkarov were there. Xander had point blank refused to allow Dumbledore onto the grounds.

"The rules for submitting yourself as school champion are quite simple." Crouch explained to the children. "You will write your name on a piece of parchment along with your school. On Halloween the Goblet shall expel the chosen candidates' parchments. Be warned that should your name come out of the Goblet, you will automatically be held to a magical contract. Fail to compete in the tournament and you will lose your magic."

Xander had hated that, but was shot down over and over again. He invested his efforts in ensuring the safety of the Champions.

"There are various measures in place to ensure you cannot enter your name if you are not of age. Including these… Goblins and Werewolves." Crouch said with un-concealed disgust.

Crouch paled as various individuals growled in anger at him.

"Sit down and shut up Crouch." Xander said angrily. "Bottom line is this. If you are of age then you are welcome to put your name in, just include your school on the same parchment. The Goblins and Werewolves will be happy to help you make sure you have filled out the parchment correctly… in fact, I will have a bunch of slips made up for you.

"The tasks are dangerous, people have died before so be very careful about thinking this through. If you really do this and your name comes out of the Goblet there is no turning back. I will be implementing various safety measures, but I can't account for everything.

"That said, good luck. The prize is one thousand Galleons and glory for your school… not really sure about that second one, but hey, it was part of the negotiations." Xander stood down and moved over to give the students access to the Goblet. This was not going to be a happy year for him.

"Why only a thousand Galleons?" Harry asked as the family and Fleur sat down in the living room of the apartment.

"'Only a thousand'? That's a fair bit of money, Harry." Neville pointed out.

"Not if you're risking your life and the school gets the glory." Harry argued. "I would have thought that at least ten thousand would be better."

"That's insane!"

"He's thinking in terms of non-magical currency." Xander explained to Neville. "For starters, one Galleon is about five pounds, so one thousand Galleons is five thousand pounds."

"Still sounds cheap to me." Harry said sceptically.

"Yes, but, you have to take into account the fact that the wizarding world is economically less than the non-magical world. If the average person in the non-magical world earns twenty thousand pounds a year, in the magical world they earn four thousand pounds a year. So winning one thousand is pretty good."

"The richest people in the magical world only have a few million Galleons." Hermione added. "The richest people in the non-magical world have billions of pounds."

"Well… used to." Xander grinned. "The richest people in the magical world are all in this room. And we have a couple of hundred million Galleons between us. Harry is the richest, as soon as I saw his account I started making investments using the knowledge of the future I had. Still pretty risky as I didn't know what would change, but it paid off and Harry is as rich as they come."

"What do I do with all the money?" Harry asked nervously.

"Forget you actually have it and continue with your life as you normally would." Xander said firmly. "Nobody needs that sort of money, get yourself a job you like and supplement your income with your riches, but use most of it to help others. You'll never find a decent use for it other wise."

"Could you do the same for me?" Hermione asked.

"Already did. Your parents gave me their savings and your education fund and you are sitting pretty on several million pounds… Hermione? Do we need Poppy?" Xander asked worriedly as Hermione began to hyperventilate.

Harry was about to run off to get Poppy when Sal grabbed him and whispered in his ear.

"WHAT!" Harry screeched.

"Trust me little brother." Sal assured him with a wink.

Harry steeled himself, squared his shoulders and pulled Hermione into a passionate embrace. Hands started wandering as Hermione's breathing eased and she started moaning.

"Sal!" Joyce scolded as the alarms started going off.

"What? I thought she'd get indignant and slap him!" Sal said defensively.

"Sure, if Harry actually spent enough time kissing and snogging in the first place." Nym laughed. "Hermione has been fairly frustrated recently."

"Yes, but now they've had a taste they are likely to get addicted." Xander groaned. He didn't want to know what his son was getting up to with his girlfriend. He waved a hand and the pair were drenched in ice cold water causing Hermione to squeal and Harry to… do the same.

"What'd you do that for?" Harry demanded as he dried himself and Hermione.

"Because it was the only way to get your attention!" Godric laughed.

"In light of today's… events, I am making changes to room assignments." Xander declared. "Neville, Harry, you two are going to share a room. Hermione, Luna, same deal."

"Yay! Roomies!" Luna cheered happily.

"Why exactly?" Neville asked curiously.

"Because then they won't have private rooms to get carried away in and set the alarms off in." Minerva smirked.

The following day Neville was marched into Poppy's domain to have his sinuses fixed. Harry went straight back to bed until Hermione roused him with a wake up call… which nearly set off the alarms.

Most of the students spent their time in the room with the Goblet of Fire.

"What are the odds that my name will come out of the Goblet?" Harry asked gloomily from where he and Neville were perched on a tabletop.

"Pretty good, the twins aren't making much money off this one as everybody assumes your luck will make another appearance." Neville shrugged.

"That's what I thought." He sighed.

"What did Xander say?"

"He's expecting it too." Harry admitted. "But he says he will be happy if I am in it as it will add another layer of security if I am in the thick of things. Says I won't have any trouble with the three tasks and not to try too hard."

"He's just going to let it happen?" Hermione asked incredulously from her position seated between Harry's legs on the bench leaning back into his chest as he sat on the tabletop.

"Nope, says he'll 'raise holy hell' but he wanted the three of us involved in the security and safety in someway regardless."

They were interrupted by the loud boastings of Draco. "Of course if I was old enough, the cup would pick me automatically. The Malfoy family has long been the epitome of what a wizard should be." He declared haughtily. "My father was outraged when he heard that I wouldn't be able to enter, but that fool of a Headmaster had to stick his nose in."

Neville and Hermione had to restrain Harry from going over and decking the little runt.

"Pay attention Harry." Hermione whispered up to her irate boyfriend. "So, Draco, you say that the Malfoys are the cream of the wizarding world, yes?"

Draco's nose turned up as though he smelt something rancid. "What of it Granger?"

"So… you're better than the Potters?"

"Far better."

"The Longbottoms?"

"Not even the same species."

"The McGonagalls?"

"Yes."

"The Parkinsons?"

"Always."

"WHAT!"

The screeching indignation that came from Pansy Parkinson was nearly as deafening as the sound of her hand slapping his cheek. Pansy proceeded to storm off.

"My father will hear of this Malfoy!" She declared over her shoulder.

"Quick show of hands," Neville called out, "Who thinks the Malfoys are better than them?"

The hall was decidedly quiet.

"And who thinks they are better than Malfoy?" Hermione called out.

There was a loud rustling as every hand shot up. Malfoy glared at his mutinous minions but they simply glared back.

"Just so we are clear… why are the Malfoys the cream of the wizarding world?" Hermione queried.

Malfoy was seething. "You'll suffer for this Mudblood." He threatened as he pulled his wand.

His efforts halted as he was hit by a spell and transfigured into a ferret.

"There'll be none of that Malfoy." Moody declared as he started bouncing the white ferret up and down with his wand. "You treat others like scum and they will treat you the same." He growled.

"Alastor! Put the student back!" Minerva screeched as she marched in, Joyce and Xander on her tails.

Moody grumbled but undid his spell work.

"We do not transfigure the students as punishment!"

Malfoy was fleeing away in fright as the rest of the school laughed at him.

"Why not exactly?" Xander asked. He quickly quailed under the combined weight of feminine glares from Joyce, Minerva and Hermione. "What? Aside from the bouncing, which I admit was a bit much." He added with an apologetic look to Moody. "Spending some time as a transfigured snail or object sounds like a good punishment. Dead boring but requiring little watching on the part of the teachers."

"We'll discuss this later in private." Joyce declared, heading off the potential arguments she could see Hermione and Minerva building to eruption.

Moody stomped off grumpily, the other teachers following.

"Hermione, would you excuse Neville and me for a bit, we need to see the twins." Harry grinned.

Hermione sighed. "Fine, just try not to get into too much trouble. Xander finds your pranks funny, don't change that by getting anyone hurt."

"We won't, just a little… justice being served in a manner that was practically requested." Harry smirked.

"I don't want to know." Hermione said with a dismissive wave of her hand as she gathered her books and wandered over to Fleur and Luna.

*Chapter 25*: Chapter 25  
Very little happened over the following weeks leading up to Halloween. Malfoy was decidedly quiet, yet clearly very unhappy. His comments had resulted in a number of pranks being performed on him by his housemates. Lucius had been outraged and stormed down to the school demanding justice.

"Can't do much without a confession or witness." Xander explained tiredly. He hated this man and wanted nothing more than to cut his head off… right after he had cut off every other limb and force-fed them to the moron.

"Then I demand you use veritiserum!"

"You first." Xander shot back with an eager grin.

Needless to say, Lucius shut up and got out after that.

Xander stood with the students and staff behind him, his fellow headmistresses and headmasters at his side and the two ministry officials, Crouch and Bagman (who he had privately labelled Abbot and Costello) behind him with the Goblet of Fire.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, werewolves and goblins… and the rest." He declared with a pointed look at Malfoy. "Welcome to the Choosing of the Champions. In mere seconds the Goblet will expel the names of the Champions from… never mind." Xander sighed as it appears he was late or the Goblet was early and first name was out.

Xander grabbed the slip of parchment had a glance and handed it to Karkarov.

"Ze Champion vor Durmstrang vill be Viktor Krum." Igor bellowed proudly.

There was great applause and cheering for the young International Quidditch star. Viktor didn't smile, as was usual for him. He simply stood up gave a sharp nod and marched to stand on the raised platform behind the heads of schools.

Another parchment came out and this time Xander handed it to Joyce.

"The Champion for Hogwarts will be Cedric Diggory!" She said happily.

Cedric was a rather understated player in the Hogwarts social system. He was well known in his house as being someone that would help those in need, and that filtered out to other houses as well. His grades were above average, but nowhere near a Hermione Granger level. He was someone that the teachers kept a quiet eye on as someone who may have a career in teaching.

Cedric had a broad smile as he jogged up to the platform and exchanged respectful nods with Krum.

The next name came out and Xander handed it straight to Olympe.

"Ze Champion for Beauxbatons will be Fleur Delacour."

Fleur looked very nervous as she made her way to the platform. Both Cedric and Viktor gave the gorgeous French girl slight bows and she tilted her head in kind.

Then people started laughing and declaring bets won as a fourth slip shot out of the Goblet.

Harry meanwhile was banging his head on the table whilst Hermione consoled him. Neville was laughing his arse off.

"Alright, alright, let me get this over with to make it official." Xander grinned. "And the fourth Champion… who doesn't have a school written down, is Harry Potter."

As Harry stomped angrily passed the Heads he muttered to Xander. "Next year I want to be home schooled."

"Harry dear, you live in a school." Joyce pointed out.

Harry froze. "DAMMIT!" He yelled.

"This is outrageous!" Crouch shouted. "There can only be three Champions."

"As 'eadmaster 'Arris as informed us previously, the chances of 'Arry's name coming out of ze Goblet were very 'igh. 'Arry 'as already agreed that he would not be competing for the prizes but merely taking part to protect 'is magic." Olympe said unconcernedly.

Then all hell broke loose as another slip shot out of the Goblet.

"Erm… The fifth Champion… and for the record, none of us was expecting this, is Draco 'The Ferret' Malfoy of Mister Dandy's School for the Closeted." Xander grinned.

At this point the entire school broke out into laughter and excitement. Of all the things they had expected, Draco Malfoy's name coming out of the Goblet was not one of them. Nobody was going to pass up the opportunity to see the little ferret get run through the ringer, even the Slytherins knew he was all talk.

"You coming up Draco?" Xander called out to the utterly confused young lad.

Draco wasn't sure what had happened, but he figured that his name coming out of the cup was a chance to show the whole world just what he could do. He proudly stood up and raised his nose as he marched to the platform where he instantly made enemies by snubbing the whole lot of them.

"Ok, this is not what we were expecting so we are going to have to recess for a short meeting, everyone else can head to the Great Hall for the feast." Joyce ordered, she then transported the heads, the Champions and the two Ministry officials to Minerva's office.

"Mr. Malfoy, did you place your name into the Goblet of Fire?" Minerva asked tightly as she sat down in her chair. This was one complication too many. Having expected Harry's name to come out they had attempted to compensate for that, but Draco Malfoy was a whole different kettle of fish.

Draco on the other hand was weighing the pro's and con's of claiming he had entered his name. It would be like saying he had outsmarted the fool of a Headmaster and all the teachers, not to mention the Goblins and Werewolves or even the Goblet itself. At the moment he couldn't think of the bad points.

"Of course I did, as if anyone else could figure out how to get past all your 'security'." He sneered at the Headmaster.

"Shut up Draco or I won't watch out for you in the tasks." Harry growled.

"As if I need you to help me." Draco scoffed.

Harry was about to retort when he had an idea. "So… are specifically stating that you don't want my help during the tasks?"

"Of course! I'd rather not even see you."

Harry grinned happily. "You heard him, I don't have to help him in anyway."

"We'll discuss this later Harry." Joyce said sternly.

"Just to clarify, Mr. Malfoy, you entered your own name into the Goblet of Fire." Minerva asked.

"Yes, that is correct."

"And you wrote down the name of the school as 'Mr. Dandy's school for the Closeted'?" She asked suspiciously.

Draco suddenly realised one of the possible bad points of claiming he entered his own name. A quick few thoughts and he decided he could claim the teachers were out to get him and lying about the name of the school.

"Yes." He croaked.

"Draco, I take back every mean thing I ever said about you." Harry said solemnly. "If you need a shoulder to lean on when you come out, just remember I'm straight and my girlfriend gets jealous." He grinned as the other Champions snickered or giggled.

Deciding it wouldn't help his cause; Draco decided to ignore the irritating Boy-Who-Lived.

"Is there anything else?" He asked in as dignified manner as possible. Which meant snootily.

Minerva and the other Head's shared a look and they all either shrugged or signalled the negative.

"There most certainly is!" Crouch declared angrily. "We must know how Mr. Malfoy subverted the Goblet and all your… 'security' arrangements."

Whilst Headmaster Harris was growling at Crouch, Draco was trying to figure out a way to not answer.

"I'm afraid I can't answer that as it is private." He managed to maintain his composure, but he was beginning to sweat.

"I'm afraid-"

"Family Magic!" Draco blurted. Family magic was protected by law and tradition. It was only shared in the family. In the event of a divorce both parties were usually obliviated of the information.

"Fine, you are assigned one month of detentions for breaking the rules. You were forbidden from entering and you broke that." Minerva declared.

"What! That's outrageous! What about Potter?" Draco demanded.

"Mr. Potter didn't enter his name into the Goblet, we all know this." Minerva scowled. She was not happy about her son's name being entered and intended to have harsh words with whoever did… those words would like involve spells and curses… but were still words.

"Prove it!" Draco demanded.

"Harry has already said he didn't do it." Cedric interrupted.

"That's not proof. In that case, prove I entered my name." Draco countered.

"Draco, you already admitted that you entered your name, and you did so in front of all these impartial witnesses." Joyce sighed. "He does have a point though, Harry stating he didn't do it isn't proof." She said to her fellow heads.

"Veritiserum will get to the bottom of this!" Crouch declared.

"Barty, you're damned lucky you aren't dead just being in my presence after what you did to Sirius Black, shut up." Xander snapped. Crouch was suitably quailed.

"What about a magical oath?" Cedric offered.

"What's that?" Harry asked worriedly as he saw Draco start grinning maliciously.

"It's a way of sealing agreements between people and can also be used to ensure someone isn't lying." Minerva explained. "If a person breaks the oath they could lose their magic." She frowned at Cedric.

"Which shouldn't be a problem if we word it simply." Fleur noted. "Many heads of state take such oaths when they enter office to prevent them abusing their positions. I assume Minister Fudge didn't take one." She sneered.

Seeing Crouch about to blow a gasket, Xander intervened. "We can besmirch Fudge later in private." He said quickly. "Ok, I will write up a short oath with Harry, then we will pass it around the room to make sure we haven't screwed up."

Twenty minutes later and the oath was ready. Draco was upset he hadn't had a chance to fiddle with it and Crouch was indignant at being excluded. Bagman didn't seem to care.

"Harry should say it front of whole school." Viktor said quietly. "Then no von can doubt him."

"Man makes a good point." Xander nodded.

Igor was smiling proudly at his top student. The lad was often overlooked for intellectual matters as they only saw a brute on a broom. Hopefully the tournament would allow his student to prove himself.

A few minutes later and they were all in the Great Hall.

"All right my lovely rug rats," Xander began, "Draco claims he put his own name in the Goblet. As such he will be serving a month of detentions and running for Mr. Dandy's School for the Closeted."

Xander waited patiently for the sniggers to die down. Draco silently fumed, he would see vengeance on them all.

"Now then, Harry claims he didn't put his name in the Goblet and I think we all believe him. He has agreed to swear an oath publicly to that fact. Harry, take it away."

Harry nervously stepped forward. He hated crowds and swore that he would make Voldemort suffer for making him famous.

"I, Lord Harry James Potter Harris McGonagall Summers Hogwarts of Gryffindor," Harry turned and glared at his father who just snickered, "swear on my life and magic that I did not enter my name in to the Goblet of Fire, nor did I ask, coerce, force or imply that I wanted anyone else to. I also swear that I really don't want to be in this tournament. So mote it be."

There was a flash of fortunately non-blinding light and gasps from the pureblood side of the school as they realised what Harry had done.

"And as Harry is still standing, I think it is safe to say he wasn't lying." Xander said with a smug grin.

The feast commenced with the five Champions seated at a special table with the three heads of schools and the two ministry officials. Xander represented Hogwarts much to his annoyance and Harry's amusement. If he had to suffer, so did Xander.

Draco sat smugly at the table ignoring all except Crouch whom he attempted to engage in conversation on adult topics. His father and mother had both taught him how to pay attention to the politics of their world in preparation for when he took his place in society. It was hoped that one day he would take the mantle of the Head of House Black which would raise the Malfoy family to true nobility. But with Sirius' exoneration that would not happen short of the man dying.

The other four Champions sat talking animatedly amongst themselves. Cedric was the life of the party as he regaled the two foreign students with tales of Harry's escapades. There was a little disbelief from both Viktor and Fleur which led to Cedric asking Headmaster Harris if they could set the pensieve up for their guests to view. Xander promised to have it ready by morning, much to Harry's dismay.

The following day was left completely free. The previous weeks of tension leading up to the deciding of the Champions and the actual excitement of the event itself had caused everyone to nearly burn out. The various heads had expected this and ensured that for the next two weeks there would be nothing but regular school work and weekends.

Cedric and Viktor spent a lot of time together with the other Hufflepuffs. Viktor always presented himself as a distant or aloof figure, it seems the 'Puffs were able to thaw him somewhat and release the lively young man inside.

Fleur still spent her time with Harry and his family. Luna and Tonks often dragged her off for girlie times with Hermione. Hermione would often return utterly confused but refused to speak with Harry about it.

Draco had re-solidified his position within his house. He had managed a few well-placed threats and bribes and now he had most of them eating out of his hands. Sal had seen that something had occurred but not what. As a result he could do nothing unless the students came to him for help.

Two weeks after the Choosing Ceremony, everything started in earnest for the Champions. It all began with the Weighing of the Wands ceremony. The idiots from the Ministry had tried to schedule it during lesson time. Minerva had stomped on that idea thoroughly and it was now arranged as a public ceremony on the Saturday. Harry found out and kept trying to get out of it.

"Why do I need to be there?" He whined.

"Because they need to check your wand and they turned it into part of the whole dog and pony show." Xander explained. He hated that Harry had to do something he hated, ask him to take on a sixty foot Basilisk and you wouldn't hear a peep of complaint, stick him in front of crowd and you had to hope he didn't teleport out.

"Can't you just give them my wand? Not like I need the thing." He begged.

"Harry, I will stay with you the whole time, and when I can't we will have Cedric and Viktor stay with you." Fleur offered.

So it was that during the ceremony, whilst the whole school watched on, Harry stood with Fleur on his right, Cedric on his left and Viktor guarding his back. Draco, meanwhile stood alone. Draco thought that he was showing the world that a Malfoy needed no one; that they stood above the rest. What everyone else saw was that the Malfoy scion was not welcomed with the other Champions.

Each of the Champions presented their wands and Mr. Ollivander tested them and declared them ready. Draco once again had his choice of school come back to haunt him.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy. Eight inches, willow and unicorn hair. Very flexible and… suitable for someone from your chosen school. And might I just say that I am very proud to meet someone who is not afraid to declare his sexuality, I myself was so inspired that I have 'come out' myself!" Ollivander declared proudly.

By this point Draco snapped. His father had been onto him about how dangerous it was to be so open about these things. And on top of that his mother had left his father and was nowhere to be found. He snatched his wand back and held it aloft.

"I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, swear on my life and magic that I did not enter my name into the Goblet of Fire… and I am not gay. So mote it be." There wasn't as bright a flash as with Harry, and neither was there much shock.

There were several groans of disappointment as people who had been having fun tormenting the young Slytherin realised their fun was ending. And those who realised that the stud was now unavailable.

"Congratulations Draco, you just earned yourself another two weeks of detention on top of the two weeks you have left." Xander smirked.

"What! I just told you I didn't break the rules in the first place, you should be cancelling the detentions." Draco argued.

"But you lied when we questioned you. You have disrupted all these proceedings as a result and caused no end of chaos. Hence the additional two weeks. Hopefully in the future you will learn to be more honest." Minerva explained with a scowl.

Part of the weighing of the wands ceremony was meeting the press and taking publicity photos. Colin Creevey was snapping away like crazy. Luna and Ginny had taken to putting a non-magical child-leash on the boy that Hermione had recommended. She hadn't expected them to take her so literally.

Luna herself was watching and taking notes. She came forward to ask some questions with the other journalists when she was shoved to the floor by a curly haired woman with glasses.

"Harry darling, just a-urk!" She suddenly found herself being held at spear tip by several angry looking goblins who had appeared out of nowhere.

"My Lord, what are your orders." The lead goblin snarled, never taking his eyes off the trembling reporter.

"If she makes a formal apology to my daughter now and agrees to stay away from my family, I will allow her to go free. If not, then take her to the mines." Xander ordered.

Luna was glaring at the mean lady whilst Harry had joined her protectively. Viktor, Cedric and Fleur hadn't realised that Harry had vanished as they were too caught up by the sight of the Goblins.

"I APOLOGISE! I APOLOGISE!" The woman screeched.

Harry waved goodbye and the woman vanished.

"Where did you send her?" Xander asked curiously.

"Romania. Furthest place I am most familiar with." Harry shrugged.

"And the fact that it is filled with giant dragons?"

"Bonus?" Harry asked sheepishly.

That evening Xander introduced Cedric, Fleur and Viktor to their new tutors. Hermione, Neville and Harry. Draco, having stated he did not want help was not invited.

Fleur and Viktor looked sceptical, but Cedric was grinning like he had won the lottery… in every country.

"I don't mean any offense, but, aren't they a little young?" Fleur asked.

"They are definitely younger than the rest of us, but they were my first students." Xander explained. "Neville will be teaching you how to utilise your magic like he does. Your wand will eventually be more of a hindrance to everyday magic than it is a tool you can't live without." He said as he clasped Neville on the shoulders.

He then moved onto his son. "Harry will be teaching you some of our more unique talents such as flying without a broom, phasing through objects and teleportation."

"Hermione will be teaching you something very specialised. Animagus transformations. She recently achieved hers and as it is still fresh she will be best placed to guide you."

"You are an animagus too, Hermione?" Cedric asked excitedly. "What's your form?"

Neville chuckled. "Let's just say she's the ultimate Gryffindor. Godric was thrilled."

Hermione smiled and took a few steps back before she began to flow upwards into a large form. Standing at twelve feet tall and twenty feet from nose to tail, with the body of a lioness, the head and wings of an eagle, Hermione's Griffin was an inspiring sight.

"Wow." Cedric breathed. A sentiment echoed by the other two Champions.

"I thought you could not become a magical creature as a Animagus." Viktor frowned.

"You can't, but we were taught by Xander and he brewed our potions." Neville explained. "Magic does weird things around him, he couldn't even find a wand to suit him."

"Will we become magical creatures?" Cedric asked.

"No… or rather, we aren't sure. Hermione will be teaching you and this will be the experiment to see if it does make you magical creatures or not." Xander explained.

"Why did it take so long for you to transform, you started with Neville and Harry, didn't you?" Cedric asked Hermione.

In response Hermione flowed down into her human form. "Sorry, can't actually speak in that form. The reason it took so long is because I was too focused on my other studies. That and I had a few setbacks like being stuck as a human/cat hybrid." She scowled.

She scowled harder as Harry and Neville started snickering.

"But why teach us? Rumour was you wouldn't even teach Dumbledore." Cedric turned to Xander.

"And I won't." He said firmly. "And neither will you. In order for you to accept our training, you will need to swear an oath never to teach what you learn to others unless we give you express permission."

"No loyalty oath?" Viktor frowned.

"No, I did think about something like that, or even an oath that said you wouldn't use it against the innocent, but I didn't like the possible restrictions or problems that could cause. This way if someone did go rogue, then there would be no way for them to gather and teach followers, there would only be one of them."

"Did anyone ask Malfoy if he wanted to learn?" Cedric asked with a grimace. He was not a fan of the stuck up little tosser but his sense of fair play demanded he check.

"Yep, and he declined." Harry grinned. "Again."

"Where is he going to get his training from?" Fleur asked.

"His father wrote me and requested that Draco be allowed to leave the school in the evenings and weekends to receive training with the 'best tutors in the wizarding' world." Xander quoted. "Considering no one from Durmstrang, Hogwarts or Beauxbatons is involved… that's a lie."

"You told him he could not go?" Viktor asked incredulously.

"Nah, course he can. He can go and receive his sub-par training. But he is forbidden from bringing anything back with him except what he takes from the school, and apart from the clothes on his back, he can only take his wand."

Whilst this meeting was taking place, Draco was at his family home having a similar meeting with his father. Draco was eager to hear of the experts that would be teaching his powerful magics and the darkest of curses. Lucius, however, had something else more pressing to deal with.

"Draco, my boy!" He greeted enthusiastically. "You must tell me how you managed it!"

"Managed what?" Draco asked warily. It couldn't be how he managed to enter his name as his oath proved he hadn't.

"How did you manage to lie in your oath?" Lucius asked mildly exasperated. "You swore you weren't gay! How did you manage not to die?"

"Because I'm not gay." Draco said slowly.

"Come now Draco, there's no need to be coy, it's just the two of us here. You can be straight with me… so to speak." He snickered.

Draco sighed and pulled out his wand. "I swear on my life and magic that the oath I made was the truth."

A flash of light and Draco was still standing there.

"Amazing my boy!" Lucius was practically bouncing on the spot. "But how did you do it? You can't keep this to yourself, this could be very useful for any legal… issues that arise."

Draco sighed in defeat. "Do we have any veritiserum around? Or can we get some from Uncle Severus?"

Truth be told, he didn't think that would convince his father either.


	6. Chapter 26 - Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The spirit of Hogwarts believes that Harry has suffered enough in his eleven years of life and calls in a protector to guide and care for him. Not slash, rating for violence in later chapters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a Repost all words belong to mjimeyg

*Chapter 26*: Chapter 26  
The day after the Weighing of the Wands ceremony, one of Harry's worst nightmares came true. He was in the newspaper (nothing unusual) and he was being made out as evil.

The blonde reporter, Rita Skeeter, had made it back from Romania and written what was clearly a revenge piece. She painted herself as being attacked by Luna and after she tried to defend herself she was assaulted by goblins at the command of Headmaster Harris. The icing on the cake was that Harry had sent her into a cave with a hundred dragons (The fact that no cave in the world could hold that many dragons was neither here nor there).

Only a few Slytherins seemed to buy into the story, mainly because they believed anything Draco told them. The rest of the school actually paid attention to what they saw with their own eyes. They had also seen the memories of what both Xander and Harry had gone through to save the wizarding world in previous years. Xander had been preparing for something like this since he first got to know Harry and his situation. By allowing the children to view the memories and giving them full disclosure, he had built a lot of trust with them.

But now he needed to deal with the adults outside the castle. Luna's edition of the Quibbler was more focused on what had actually happened. She did seem oddly fond of Viktor and tended to focus on him, but she still managed to convey the truth.

The following day she put out a counter story and a challenge to Rita to prove her story. Especially as Luna had a photograph that Fleur had managed to get her father to negotiate for from the French magical newspaper which showed Rita's attack.

Nothing was heard but the issue seemed to vanish. Xander decided to let it lie for now and only revisit the issue if Rita became an issue again.

Over the two weeks before the first task, Cedric, Fleur and Viktor were taught by three people several years younger than them. It had been an interesting experience. Harry and Neville were found to be very adept teachers, they were able to impart their ideas and concepts with clarity. If they failed the first time they were able to discuss the lack of understanding with their students and eventually guide them to the correct answers.

Hermione was another matter altogether. She didn't engage her students in discussion and discourse. She lectured. She was a font of information but she simply didn't know how to impart the lessons in anyway that didn't come across as if she were reading from a textbook. As a result, she grew frustrated as did her students.

Minerva and Joyce took it upon themselves to mentor Hermione. Minerva also assigned Hermione as her assistant during Hermione's Transfiguration lessons. Once Cedric, Viktor and Fleur realised that Hermione was having difficulty with teaching, they also changed the way they interacted with her during their sessions. They would suggest better ways of communicating and teaching. It was a long process that would take weeks and possibly months, but now that they were communicating better and had a better understanding of the problems, they were happy to try.

As the days leading to the first task became fewer, the four champions became more anxious. There was always a very real element of danger in the previous tournaments. Even more so in this one as someone had clearly managed to force Harry to take part. Harry had privately admitted to Fleur, Cedric and Viktor that he had organised and was responsible for Draco being involved, but that was merely for his amusement.

The night before the first task, none of the contestants could sleep. Whilst Draco was pacing in his dorm room, the other champions were trying to relax in the classroom assigned to them for practice. Harry was especially restless.

"Why are you so worried?" Cedric asked with genuine concern. "Of all of us you have the best chance of coming out unscathed, plus you aren't really competing, just taking part."

Harry froze and tilted his head questioningly at the Hufflepuff. "I'm not worried about the task! I… I can hear something." Harry admitted.

"Hear something?" Cedric asked sitting up quickly.

"Perhaps it is just nerves, no? I get them all the time before games." Viktor said reassuringly.

"Err, problem with Harry is that he doesn't do anything normal. Despite being adopted, I swear he inherited that from his dad." Cedric grimaced.

"Can you describe what you hear?" Fleur asked. "Should we get Xander?"

"I hear… laughing and shouting… it's outside and far away." Harry said, pausing to listen. Harry growled and through up his hands in exasperation. "That's it! I'm going to find out what it is!" He declared as he stormed out.

The other three exchanged a quick glance before they chased after their young friend.

By the time they caught up to Harry he was nearing the edge of the Magical Forest. A place that Cedric still worried about thanks to his years at Hogwarts before Xander and his family had cleared it up.

"Harry is this smart?" He asked.

"Considering Hermione's not here? No." Harry chuckled. "But it is safe. Chances are we will just find a group of werewolves who have had too much to drink and wandered too close to the edge of the forest."

Cedric froze. "Werewolves?"

Harry barely paused as he grabbed Cedric's wrist and began dragging him along and casting his wandless Lumos. "They are perfectly safe. Fleur and I can promise you that."

"As can I." Viktor added.

"You can?" Harry asked in surprise. "I thought all of Europe feared them and… erm… ostrichised them."

"I think he means 'ostracised'." Cedric corrected absently for the slightly bewildered Bulgarian. "It means they are outcasts, not accepted by… regular wizards."

Viktor's face lit up with understanding. "Ah! No, only the vestern side of Europe. The east is far more… accepting. Our verevolves lock themselves up on the full moon. There is a potion rumoured to help them, but ve cannot find it." He said sadly.

"That is probably the fault of the west." Fleur admitted with a little shame. "They would not share something like that, they would rather destroy the werewolves."

"After tomorrow, talk to Xander. He can set you up with the recipe and some other… stuff, that might help." Harry said cryptically. Fleur just chuckled as she thought of the impact the yellow-eyed King of Werewolves would eventually have on Europe.

By this point they were some one hundred meters into the forest and the edge was no long visible. But now the others could hear something.

"Harry, I can't hear voices… but I can hear growling and the occasional roar." Cedric said worriedly.

"Likewise." Fleur added.

"I… I think I recognise those voices." Harry muttered.

"Not much of a voice." Viktor said quietly.

"Wait… I know them!" Harry suddenly shouted as he took off at a sprint.

"Oh Merlin, we'd better follow him, he's our ride out of here." Cedric said as began to follow.

They ran, following the bright light of Harry's wandless Lumos for another five hundred meters before they burst out into a clearing.

The three skidded to a stop as they were suddenly confronted by five very big and fearsome looking dragons being herded by nearly fifty men and women. Viktor and Fleur began backing away fearfully until Cedric noticed them.

"Guys, don't worry. Its just dragons!" He said with a happy grin.

"Cedric, in Bulgaria, there is no such thing as 'just dragons'." Viktor explained still backing away and never taking his eyes of the hulking creatures.

"Yeah, but with Harry here we don't have to worry about it." Cedric explained. "Dragons only attack if you encroach their territory or are hungry. Harry is a Dragon Shifter and they definitely won't attack a friend of Harry's."

Viktor was still not entirely convinced but he cautiously followed his fellow champions towards the scaly killing machines.

Harry appeared to be animatedly chatting with a large dragon, they couldn't tell the colour as the place was lit with fire torches and the yellow flames skewed the colours. As they got nearer they could hear Harry hissing away as the dragon hissed back.

"Guys, meet Reina!" He said indicating the dragon.

The others meekly waved, they were startled as the dragon gave a distinct chuckle.

"Harry! What are you doing here?" A voice called out behind them. They turned to see a red haired man jogging towards them.

"Hey Charlie, I could hear them from the castle and I wanted to see what was going on." Harry grinned. "Guys, this is Charlie Weasley. One of the twins older brothers and a dragon handler."

"Nice to meet you all. Now, you need to get to bed. You have a big day tomorrow, all of you." Charlie said sternly.

"We have to do something with the dragons?" Cedric asked nervously.

Charlie didn't want to reveal anything but he could see the fear on the older three champion's faces. "I can't say more than, yes… and already that is too much. Now, Sal is taking care of these guys, so you won't have anything to worry about… now go." He ordered.

Harry sighed, hissed at the dragon and then vanished along with the other champions. They jumped slightly as they reappeared in the classroom.

"We have to fight dragons?" Viktor asked worriedly.

"What? No!" Harry said quickly. "Wouldn't really be a fair fight, plus you might hurt them."

The three champions looked at Harry like he was nuts. The thought of them hurting a dragon was ludicrous.

"No, but they might be guarding something and we have to get passed them. They are good at that sort of thing." Harry mused.

"So… we just have to avoid them?" Cedric asked hopefully. Avoiding dragons was something he was very happy to do.

Harry thought about that for a second. "I guess… then again, they could be there to provide fire obstacles."

This did not improve the disposition of his fellow companions. Something that Harry actually noticed.

"Don't worry, Sal probably told them what to do, they might play a little rough and knock us around a bit but they definitely won't kill us. Especially as they know we are kids, like most creatures they protect kids." Harry assured them.

"And protecting kids involves… 'knocking us around'?" Cedric asked in disbelief.

"The most you'll get from them is a few broken bones… and considering Lockhart isn't around, Poppy can fix that easily." Harry said dismissively. "Ok, I'm going to bed, you guys good? I'm sure Poppy might be able to give you something to help you sleep."

After saying goodnight they parted for their beds. Harry teleported Fleur and Viktor to their carriage and ship respectively. Fear of dying might have been dealt with, now they just had to deal with the excitement and nerves.

The following morning at breakfast the four Champions gathered to discuss an important issue. Should they tell Draco about the dragons.

"Why though? They won't hurt him… much." Harry argued. "The whole reason I entered him was so that he would learn the hard way that all his ramblings about being better than everyone else because of his blood was utter crap."

"Exactly, which means he needs to be on a level playing field with us or he could argue that we had insider information and an unfair advantage." Fleur explained.

"It is true." Viktor concurred. "Even vith us knowing accidentally about the dragons, ve vould be called cheats."

Harry sulked but conceded their arguments. He really hoped that Draco Malfoy's pride would be damaged after all the crap he said about Xander and Hermione.

They all approached the Slytherin table. Cedric acting as their spokesman.

"Draco, could we have a word?" He asked quietly.

Draco cast a wary eye over his fellow 'Champions'. "I have no desire to speak with… people of your ilk."

Cedric sighed as he heard Harry growling behind him, he was sure that Fleur and Viktor were restraining him.

"We have information about the first task, we thought you might want to know." He tried again.

Draco scoffed. "I know all about the task and I am fully prepared to handle those creatures. I intend to earn myself a full set of dragon hide garments before the day is out."

That was too much for Harry who broke free of Viktor and Fleur. "You kill one of those dragons and I will kill you. Are we clear Malfoy?" He demanded as he held Malfoy by the front of his robes.

"Guys… and gal… what's going on?" Xander asked as he made his way over.

"These… Champions were trying to intimidate me and injure me before the task, clearly they know they will lose to me in a fair fight." Draco smirked.

Xander knew full well that wasn't what happened, he just didn't know what had happened. "Draco, if you want that statement to stick you are going to have to swear an oath to that fact."

Draco froze and thought quickly. "I suppose I can let them go this time with a warning." He said loftily.

"I challenge Draco Malfoy's declaration and declare him a liar." Fleur snarled.

There were gasps of shock that spread throughout the hall as Draco and Harry had managed to draw everyone's attention.

Xander looked around, unsure as to why it was a big thing. "Ok, and for those of us not up to date on magical… things…?"

"With respect, Headmaster, she has challenged his honour. Usually this is settled with a duel or magical oaths, depending on what is agreed." Cedric answered.

"She's a filthy creature and doesn't have the right." Draco snarled.

Cedric, seeing Harry about to do something rash, as usual, clamped his hand over his mouth. "Then I challenge you Draco Malfoy. I declare you a liar and a cad."

Draco was outraged. His honour was being called into question and for a pureblood, that was a huge deal. If he failed to uphold his honour by winning the duel or proving his veracity with the oath, he would bring shame on his family, his father would likely expel him from the family to prevent that.

Draco Malfoy, Prince of Slytherin, would not allow a measly Hufflepuff to get away with this. "I accept your challenge. I will take great pleasure in removing your stain from wizarding society."

"Draco, you are a consummate professional," Draco preened at the Headmaster's words, "at being an idiot!" Now Draco was outraged. "Whilst you are facing a dragon today, and then whilst you are preparing to face Ced tomorrow, think about one thing. Cedric was chosen by a magical object over all the other people who put their names in the Goblet. You might want to think about why that is."

Xander turned to the other four champions. "Go! Get! Grab something to eat and then march your butts down to the stadium."

The four Champions finished their meal together with Luna, Neville, Ginny and Hermione before heading down to the stadium where the first task was to be held. Hermione and Neville had been detailed with Xander's brothers and Sirius to act as safety precautions for the Champions.

Xander himself was acting as a judge for Hogwarts. There had been some debate about impartiality as Harry was involved, but it had already been decided that Harry would finish each task with a total of four points, one from each judge. Enough to declare him to have taken part but not enough to make a splash. This was all a way for Harry and the others to stick it to the British Ministry who had failed to protect Harry from being entered.

Xander still wanted to know how Harry had gotten Draco entered, but Harry refused to tell until the tournament was over.

Harry, Fleur, Cedric and Viktor were seated in a corner of a tent that had been set up for the Champions. Draco Malfoy was pacing on the opposite side and muttering to himself. The others were discussing the spells they knew, they hadn't shared tactics though. When asked, Harry had simply stated that he would complete the task in as boring a way as possible.

They were soon interrupted by Bagman, Crouch and Xander.

"Lady and gentlemen." Crouch declared officiously. "In this bag are five… objects, each one is numbered. You will each pick an object and the number you pick will decide the order you go in."

Bagman held the bag to Fleur. "Ladies first." He smiled gregariously.

One by one the Champions reached in and withdrew a small, animated figurine of a dragon. Fleur, Viktor, Cedric, Harry and Draco. Draco was clearly insulted that he went last.

"Hey, I got Reina!" Harry said happily.

Crouch looked sharply at Harry.

"How do you know that dragon's name?" He demanded.

Harry very clearly did not like the man's tone, so he smiled impudently. "She told me."

Seeing that Crouch was about to get very angry Xander broke in. "Harry is a frequent visitor to the Dragon Colony in Romania with Lord Slytherin. Both of them are Parselmouths and can talk to dragons. If you paid attention you would know this."

Crouch was just as insulted by Xander as Draco was by being allowed to pick last. He held his tongue though.

"Is Malfoy really going to face Norbert?" Harry asked looking at the figurine Draco was holding and desperately trying to avoid being bitten by it.

"Yeah, it was cheaper than transporting five dragons over here." Xander admitted. "Plus, when Sal warned her what was going on, she insisted on being a part of it."

"Right, well people are waiting so lets get a move on." Bagman said clapping his hands jovially. "Mr. Diggory shall go first against the Swedish Short-Snout-"

"Freja."

"What now?" Bagman asked in confusion at Harry's declaration.

"Freja. Her name is Freja." Harry said as though talking to a five year old.

Bagman decided to move on. "Riiiggght… and the lovely Miss Delacour shall go next against the Common Welsh Green-"

"Cerys."

"Mr. Krum shall go next against the Chinese Fireball-"

"Li Cai."

Bagman dutiful continued with a sigh. "Mr. Potter will then tackle the Hungarian Horntail…" Bagman waited for Harry to provide the name.

Harry just looked at him.

"Aren't you going to say the name?" Bagman asked exasperatedly.

"But I already said the name earlier! Weren't you listening?" Harry asked innocently. Xander however rolled his eyes as his son wound the man up so easily. He spent too much time around the twins, Sirius and Remus, his brothers… and himself. Xander felt a moment of pride as he realised he was an influence on his son… he neatly glossed over the inevitable debate about whether or not that was a good thing.

Bagman looked close to tears at this point.

"And Mr. Malfoy shall go last facing…" Xander prompted with a wave of his hand.

"What? Oh, yes, Mr. Malfoy shall go last facing the Norwegian Ridgeback, Norbert." Bagman said recovering badly. "Each dragon is a nesting mother who is guarding her eggs. Amongst them is a golden egg that contains a clue to the next task, you must retrieve this egg."

"Isn't Norbert a boy's name?" Fleur asked.

"Hagrid didn't check before he named his dragon… it's Norberta, but Norbert or Bert for short." Xander explained with a smirk. "And we aren't using real eggs, the dragons know this and also know not to kill, but they will play rough and do their best to keep you away from the eggs, so try and have some fun out there."

"What! We ordered real dragon eggs!" Crouch argued lividly.

"And you were over ruled." Xander returned just as heatedly. "You will not place an endangered species in even more danger just to entertain yourselves."

"Well, good luck out there, listen for when your name is called and exit the tent into the stadium." Bagman instructed as he bodily dragged Crouch out of the tent.

As Xander waved goodbye, Hermione suddenly burst into the tent breathlessly. "Viktor, you forgot your gloves!" She wheezed.

"Ah! Thank you Her-My-Oh-Nee." He said carefully pronouncing her name. After many butchered attempts, Harry and Fleur had taken the challenge of teaching Viktor how to improve his English. It began with Hermione's name.

"Cedric, these are dragon hide gloves, you take them first. Vhen you are done, throw them in tent and ve can all use them." He explained as Hermione backed out waving goodbye.

"Wow, thanks Viktor." Cedric said as Harry and Fleur echoed his sentiments. "It's a shame we can't all watch each other."

"We can use the pensieve later. I'm sure Luna will give us the memory." Harry offered.

Nothing more was said as Cedric's name was heard being called out and Ludo Bagman gave his announcements. Cedric exchanged handshakes and hugs with his friends before he donned Viktor's gloves and strode out.

What followed was several minutes of poor torture for Viktor, Harry and Fleur. Bagman's commentary was very enthusiastic but lacking any detail. They were all very relieved to hear Bagman's declaration of Cedric's success.

Hearing Fleur's name they once again exchanged hugs and Fleur walked out.

"The gloves are on the floor outside the tent." They heard her call back.

Viktor and Harry paced anxiously as they listened. Although the threat of death was not present, playing with dragons is no trivial matter. Even Harry wouldn't do that unless he was in his dragon form. Xander avoided it altogether and watched from the sidelines.

It didn't take long for Fleur's victory to be declared.

Viktor and Harry exchanged handshakes. "I look forward to seeing how you handle this, Harry." Viktor smiled.

"Like I said, I'm aiming for boring!" Harry grinned.

It felt like hours that Harry waited as he listened to Bagman ooh and ah over Viktor's performance. But soon enough, his turn came. Harry didn't even spare a glance for Malfoy who was still pacing in the corner. He marched out of the tent and froze.

Harry knew that the whole school would be there. He played Quidditch in front of them so it was no big deal. But he was not expecting the entire population of the other two schools everyone's parents and families and what appeared to be lots of various dignitaries.

Everyone in the stadium was watching him. The Boy-Who-Lived stood there, unmoving. Seconds passed, the seconds gave way to a minute.

'Harry, what's wrong?' Hermione asked mentally.

"Too… many… people." Harry gasped, unaware he was speaking out loud.

Hermione gasped in shock at the realisation that they all had forgotten something very important about all this. Harry did not handle crowds well, and it seemed that Harry had misunderstood just how big an event this would be.

The crowd began to murmur. Then they noticed the dragon that had been waiting patiently start to approach Harry Potter. Cries of horror escaped them as they feared the dragon would eat or attack their hero. There were cries of outrage as people demanded that the dragon handlers or judges do something. The dragon handlers knew full well that there wasn't a dragon alive that would hurt Harry.

"Harry, what's wrong?" This time it was Reina who spoke as she carefully nudged her often small and soft friend. She could sense his distress, and Harry was a hatchling, he was part of the colony and therefore her responsibility.

"Too… many… people!" Harry unconsciously repeated in Parseltongue.

Harry was suddenly drenched in dragon saliva as Reina gave him a lick from head to toe. He shook himself and glared at his large friend.

"Try and get the egg and then you can go and hide." She said sternly. Sometimes you needed to be firm with the hatchlings.

Harry visibly steeled himself and nodded to Reina who backed away carefully. Harry looked down and saw that Viktor had thrown the gloves for him. He had no intention of using them, but he was tempted to take them so Malfoy couldn't. He squashed the impulse as he realised that it wasn't sporting and his friends and family wouldn't be pleased with him.

The crowd sighed in relief as the dragon backed off without making a light snack of Harry Potter. Confusion followed as Harry sank into the ground. They were expecting to see the famous Boy-Who-Lived transform into his dragon form and defeat the other dragon in single combat, or utilise his exceptional flying skills and out fly the dragon.

What they got to see was Harry Potter, the scared young boy, sink into the ground and vanish from their sight.

The dragon began casting around for his scent, hissing and growling. Sal was mentally laughing his arse off as he could hear what Reina was saying.

"Here Harry, here little hatchling." Reina grunted, she was at a loss as to what to do, she couldn't defend the eggs if Harry wasn't there. "When I said you could hide, I did say after you got the egg… didn't I?" She wondered out loud.

All of a sudden Reina heard Harry's voice.

"Reina, I've got the egg and I'll come and see you later."

There, by the exit from the stadium, stood Harry Potter with the golden egg. He waved goodbye to Reina and walked out. Reina was stunned. She eventually shook herself and her head snapped towards the clutch of fake eggs. Clearly missing was the golden egg.

That day, the wizarding world heard something very unusual. A dragon laughing.

Sal had seen and heard the lot. But no one else had. Minutes passed and Sal tried to contain his mirth as people grew more agitated.

"Is there anyway to check if Mr. Potter is… still alive… down there?" He heard Bagman ask the judges nervously.

Xander shrugged. "Guys, can you see him?" He called out to his brothers and Hermione and Neville who were flying over the stadium keeping an eye on things.

At this point Sal gave up and broke down in tears of laughter. Everyone else thought they were tears of horror and sadness and that maybe he had seen Harry die.

"Sal, what's so funny?" Reina asked as she reared up on her hind legs to look at the flying wizard.

Sal let himself fall to the floor of the stadium gently. "Oh god!" He gasped. "They don't know that Harry has already left with the egg!" He cried as a new wave of laughter hit him.

"Why don't you tell them?" She asked, she thought Harry was smart, but she didn't know why Sal wouldn't tell them.

"Can't! Too funny!" He managed to hiss out.

Reina sighed. An act that caused the crowd to gasp as they thought she was about to blow fire. "Harry, can you poke your head out and tell your father you have finished." She called out loudly, scaring the crowd even more.

Harry who was being treated and cared for by Poppy and his fellow Champions frowned. He clearly remembered walking out of the stadium above ground because he said goodbye to Reina.

"Erm… Poppy, could you tell Dad I'm out? Reina thinks they don't know." Harry asked timidly.

Poppy frowned. She wasn't worried about what Harry had said, more about how he said it. Xander and his mothers and family had done a wonderful job of bringing Harry out of his shell, but sitting here before her was that little eleven year old boy who lived in a cupboard under the stairs.

"Ok Harry, I'll be right back." She said patting his shoulder and frowning further when he flinched.

"What did you do so they wouldn't see you?" Cedric asked curiously. Harry hadn't come in with his famous Invisibility Cloak.

"I went underground." Harry said quietly.

Fleur and Viktor were confused as Cedric burst out laughing. "You did the same thing you did to Malfoy?" He asked referring to Harry's duel in Lockhart's 'Duelling Club'.

Harry nodded with a sheepish grin.

Eventually they heard Draco's name being called.

"Do you really think he can kill a dragon?" Cedric asked worriedly.

"If the spell is dark enough, anything is possible." Viktor scowled.

Draco had been taught many spells and techniques over the past month or so. Many of the spells were dark, especially the Unforgivables. His tutors had been instructed to teach him spells that could end a fight and prove the superiority of the Purebloods. They had done their job well in teaching Draco powerful spells, but they had not taught him wisdom or control. So when Draco had a host of spells at his command that would be like Xander with a rocket launcher at the Judge, he instead chose to pull out a nuke.

Xander and the other judges were watching as Draco Malfoy sauntered arrogantly into the stadium. They were outraged when they saw him look at the gloves, which each contestant had left for the next, and then spat on them. Draco instantly lost points for sportsmanship.

He strode to a respectable distance opposite Norbert, raised his wand to his lips and began to chant.

"That arrogant fool!" Igor hissed.

"What?" Xander demanded.

"'E is trying to call forth Fiendfyre." Maxine gasped in horror.

"That's bad?"

"He vill kill us all!" Igor nearly shouted.

The crowd seemed to be realising that too, the rumblings were turning louder, people were slowly moving from their seats.

Malfoy suddenly blew on his wand tip and a huge gout of flame burst forth and coalesced into a fiery dragon equal to the size of Norbert. Norbert knew what was happening thanks to his genetic memory, he was already backing away as Sal attempted to break the chain that tethered him to the floor.

"Surely he knows that or has a way to deal with it?" Xander argued.

"Ve have all seen how arrogant that boy is." Igor declared. "You cannot put it out vith vater, the caster must control it mentally, it takes great mental discipline, if the caster fails, it takes an even stronger caster to cast their own and attempt to consume it."

Xander thought about that for a few moments. Harry was the most powerful caster alive, but that spell looked fairly long for him to learn in seconds. None of his friends or family had attempted to cast it to control it so they were out.

There were sudden screams of terror from the crowd. Xander looked out to see that Draco had clearly lost control of the Fiendfyre dragon and that it was heading for the nearest source of fuel. The crowd and wooden stadium.

"Dammit, Igor, get down to Harry and help Krum teach him how to cast and control that stuff, he's the only person I know who has the power and Godric has been honing his mental processes… he still sucks, but…" Xander ordered. Igor nodded and leapt over the side of the raised platform and towards the tent.

The screams rose sharply with a crashing sound as the Fire Dragon reached the crowd and snapped at the fleeing crowd. Xander winced as he saw several people go up in flames. Sirius, Joyce and his brothers could be seen teleporting the people out that were closest to the dragon, they could only do one at a time without risking injury or mass hysteria.

Suddenly a loud roar filled the air as Norbert swooped down crashing into the fiery dragon and managing to fight it off. It wasn't that Norbert was able to land hits and swipes, but that she managed to provide a suitable distraction for the Fire Dragon. Every hit she made or took did serious damage to her body but she kept taunting and distracting the death machine.

"I will get Dumbledore." Crouch said palely as he headed for the tent entrance.

"What? Why?" Xander demanded.

"We need a powerful wizard man! Dumbledore will know how to handle this." Crouch snapped.

Something seemed to click in Xander's mind. He saw the other Champions barring Malfoy and Harry teleporting amongst the crowd and moving them elsewhere. He then noticed Neville and Hermione doing the same.

That's when he figured it out. Neville and Dumbledore, or Neville and Fawkes to be more accurate. Xander sometimes thought of Fawkes as Dumbledore's companion.

"Fawkes!" Xander called out. There was a flash of fire and Fawkes was perched on the table. "Fiendfyre out of control, anything you can do?"

Fawkes trilled lightly and stared into Xander's eyes.

"Fine, contain it as long as you can, Harry should be ready soon to take control." Xander ordered.

Xander ignored the other judges and followed Igor's path over the side of the ledge and towards the tent.

"Harry, got that spell down yet?" Xander called out as he rushed into the tent.

"I think so." Harry shrugged as he turned around from where he was huddled with Viktor and Igor. There in the palm of Harry's hand was a small Fire Dragon, just like the miniatures they had pulled from the bag to decide which dragon they would face.

"I do not understand vhy the fire does not burn him." Igor said in frustration.

"Blame Xander." Harry grinned. "Magic does weird things around him."

"Hey, I was outside, this is all you." Xander said defensively.

"Yeah, and I spend most of my time with you." Harry retorted.

"Well, if you're done, there is a Fiendfyre Dragon the size of Norbert out there. Neville and Fawkes are trying to contain it but we need it extinguished, I think it killed several people already." Xander explained.

Harry froze and paled for all of a second before he rushed out of the tent. Fawkes and Neville were flying exceptionally fast around the fire dragon leaving a trail of phoenix fire in their wake, the Fire Dragon seemed unable to move past it.

Harry couldn't figure out how he would take control of the large Fire Dragon, the one in his hand felt like an extension of him. Like one of his fingers. If he closed his eyes and focused, he could see through its eyes.

He decided to try and merge the two fires. He closed his eyes and took full control of the dragon.

Harry tested his tiny wings and found that they felt exactly like his regular dragon wings. He didn't waste anytime as he flew straight for the largest gap in the net that Fawkes and Neville were weaving.

Harry's tiny dragon form found itself buffeted about by the firestorm that made up the body of the Fiendfyre Dragon that was terrorising the school. He could feel tendrils of flame trying to latch onto him, he figured that was the larger dragon trying to consume him. Harry couldn't see a way to find a brain or centre for the Fire Dragon so he decided to go with the motto of one of his and Xander's favourite TV characters and apply More Power!

Harry closed his dragon eyes and focused on drawing more magic into his little fiery body. He focused until he could no longer feel the tempest of the larger Fiendfyre dragon around him. Then he opened his eyes, and gulped.

Harry had certainly managed to engulf the Fiendfyre Dragon, he was now double it's size and everybody looked extremely small. Now Harry had to figure out how to dispel the dragon. He didn't want to do this whilst he was 'inside' the dragon and he didn't want to face it at this size in his tiny human form. So he focused on slowly releasing the magical energy in his body without allowing it to replenish. Not an easy thing to do especially as he was making this up on the fly. Every now and again he would open his eyes and check his progress, once he was his original tiny fire dragon self he began to fly back to his human body.

Harry opened his eyes as the dragon landed on his outstretched palm. He focused on extinguishing the dragon like a Nox spell extinguishes the light from a Lumos spell. With a little 'puff' the dragon vanished.

Harry snickered, Xander had long ago introduced him to the story and lore behind Puff the Magic Dragon.

Harry looked up and surveyed the carnage that remained. The ground was scorched black where the Fire Dragon had touched it. There were several bodies on the ground, a few were mere blackened skeletons. There was a huge chunk of the stadium stands missing, and the rest was severely charred.

That's when Harry noticed Norbert. She was lying on the ground several hundred meters away and breathing raggedly. She had clearly been severely burned, Sal and several others were tending to her. Harry teleported to his side.

"Is she going to be ok?" He asked frantically as he placed a hand on the wounded dragons flank.

Her wings where gone, burnt away to the joints. Huge gashes in her body from the dragons claws only failed to kill her outright as they had cauterised.

"No Harry, she only has a few moments." Sal said tightly, his emotions were close to bursting, Norbert was a good friend and playmate, she had protected the children of the school as was her duty.

"Don't worry Harry, I'm going to the other side, I'll save a place for you." Norbert hissed.

"I'm so sorry Norbert." Harry whispered, tears flowing freely down his cheeks, Norbert was clearly in pain.

"Not your fault, Harry, but… will you do me a favour?"

"Anything." Harry said eagerly.

"Take care of my eggs, protect them… and don't let Hagrid name them… or at least, tell him if they are boys or girls." She chuckled before falling to a hacking cough, a cough that took her last breaths as she closed her eyes for the final time and slept the everlasting sleep.

"Norbert?" Harry hissed. "Norbert?"

"She's gone Harry, she took a lot of damage." Charlie said quietly as he came around from the other side of Norbert immobile head.

Sal pulled Harry into a tight hug whilst sending out a mental message to the family that Norbert was dead and that Harry needed them. Hermione was the first to arrive and took him from Sal into her own embrace as her own tears fell. The air was soon filled with the twin tones of Neville and Fawkes as they sang a mournful dirge in tribute to their fallen friend.

As the others arrived Harry straightened himself up and suddenly vanished.

"Why did he leave?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"I am not sure, but I think he will be back shortly." Sal assured her.

"Sal, arrange whatever you need for taking care of Norbert with Harry. She's a hero and will be remembered and respected as such by this school and our allies." Minerva ordered.

"Mum has reabsorbed into the castle to increase security. The students were safely evacuated into the castle and then to Lupine Academy once the nature of the threat was determined." Godric informed them.

It was a system they had set up that each school would serve as a fall back point for the other in the event of an attack or disaster. If the Lupine Academy was attacked they would fall back to the safety of Hogwarts, if Hogwarts was attacked they would fall back to the safety of the werewolves. If both fell, they would be held in the Goblin Academy. Xander's project for the coming Summer was to establish similar relations with Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.

At this point Harry returned and spoke directly to Sal. "Six, I have Slinky guarding them but I'll return there shortly to take care of… it." He said cryptically.

Harry turned around and pulled Hermione back into his arms, taking comfort in her touch. "I want Malfoy. I demand the right to face him in a duel." Harry snarled.

"That might not be possible, Harry." Godric said carefully. He held up a hand to forestall his arguing. "Malfoy caused the deaths of many people today, including foreign citizens and dignitaries. This was an international crime, Draco Malfoy will not be going down for this alone, whoever taught him those spells will be sentenced with him."

"If he gets off I will challenge him." Harry scowled.

"You and everyone else who was injured or lost someone." Sal assured him. "The safest place for Draco Malfoy is currently behind bars."

Draco Malfoy was currently behind bars. Nym and Kingsley had been patrolling the stadium amongst the stands, keeping the peace. As soon as they realised what was happening, Kingsley had ordered Nym to grab the fleeing Draco and hand him over to Gringotts. Which is where he was currently waiting.

He couldn't understand why he was still being held, whilst true that Fiendfyre was borderline dark, it wasn't illegal. He shouldn't be held a prisoner.

"Congratulations Draco, you will no longer have to face Cedric or compete in the rest of the tournament." Xander said with a malicious grin that chilled Draco.

Draco shook himself and straightened his shoulders. "Then release me so I can go about my business. It's been a tiring day and that farce of a tournament has irritated me."

"I think not!" Draco instantly recognised Amelia Bones, the Head of the DMLE. Her presence was not a comfort. "You are currently being held for the murders of twenty three people and the assault of numerous others."

Draco paled. "My father will take care of this, take me to him." He managed not to croak, but only barely.

"Your father is currently being questioned, he will be of no use to you."

"Then take me to the Minister, he can sort this out." Draco was very worried now.

"The Minister also has no say in this. You killed diplomatic guests, Mr. Malfoy. These are international crimes and you will be tried in an international court."

"How can I be charged with these murders? Since I was abducted from that farce of a tournament by that sad excuse for an Auror I have been locked up in here!" Draco tried.

"And every spectator there saw you cast the Fiendfyre spell." Amelia retorted.

"I cast a simple fire spell, it is not my fault that-"

"Shut up Draco, you'll be questioned with veritiserum, lying now won't save you." Xander snapped in exasperation.

Draco turned a lovely shade of green before throwing up, Xander and Amelia had to dodge the disgusting spew.

"Talk about a guilty reaction." Xander said disgustedly as Amelia vanished the mess.

"But… Imperious!" Draco practically shouted, his voice hoarse from vomiting. "I was under the Imperious! I remember hearing a voice."

"And if you say that under veritiserum, I am sure it will be taken into consideration." Amelia said smugly. She had been a fairly experienced Auror during the war, she was disgusted with how the Death Eaters were let off when they made similar claims and they weren't backed up with oaths or veritiserum testimonies.

*Chapter 27*: Chapter 27  
The following day was very sombre. Fawkes had spent the night serenading the castle to keep away the potential nightmares, but the human mind is not an easily tameable essence.

The story in all the papers was the same, the Massacre of Hogwarts. There were photos of the huge Fiendfyre Dragon taking a bite out of the stadium. Only the Quibbler had images of Harry defeating the dragon with a whole page dedicated to Norbert.

Xander was not forgoing his right to say 'I told you so'. He had been ranting and raving at his mother and brothers for most of the night, Joyce having extracted herself from the castle after the danger had passed. He was now arranging a full goblin company to attend as security and every Champion would have to run their plans past Joyce, Sal and Godric.

Later in the week, Xander heard news from Amelia that absolutely boiled his blood.

"What do you mean Lucius is free?" He growled dangerously.

"We have no evidence and he was very careful to distance himself. He seems to have improved on the 'I was under the Imperious' defence." Amelia growled back, she was not going to take the rap for this one. "But we did get the instructors."

"What aid has he offered to Draco?" Minerva asked.

"None, rumour has it that he plans to disown Draco publicly. Probably to improve public opinion of the Malfoy's in general."

"What will become of Draco? Surely they aren't going to just leave him to the wolves?" Minerva asked, she may not like the boy, but she still felt responsible.

"Min, he made his bed and now he gets to lie in it. There were plenty of options far less dangerous and far more effective than Fiendfyre." Sal scowled. "It was his arrogance that let him think he could do what better men than him couldn't."

"What's Fudge's take on all this?" Xander asked.

"Washing his hands of it, you might need to confront him." Amelia grimaced.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, if I could have your attention, I will make a statement regarding the recent disaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Fudge announced as he stood on the steps of the Ministry building with reporters from around the world before him.

This would be a career maker for him. He wasn't just about to address the British media, but the international media as well. He would truly be world famous, it could be a stepping-stone to the International Political Arena, maybe even to the ousting of Dumbledore from the position of Supreme Mugwump.

"First, I would like to express my condolences and sympathies to those injured and those who lost loved ones last Saturday. Our thoughts are with them." He said solemnly.

"I was deeply shocked by the fact that young Mr. Draco was permitted to call forth Fiendfyre for what was to be a happy and joyous event, especially in the midst of so many innocents. He was immediately taken into custody by one of our Aurors and subsequently interrogated by the proper authorities.

"As a result of these interrogations we have arrested those that taught Mr. Draco the spell and advised him to use it.

"Because the event occurred at Hogwarts which is sovereign territory, and because many victims were foreign dignitaries, we have been petitioned by the ICW for extradition of Mr. Draco to be tried directly by the ICW.

"After careful consideration and deliberation with my advisors I have decided to grant extradition.

"Finally, we are appalled by the lack of safety and security that allowed this to happen at Hogwarts. I am afraid that if they cannot show a significant improvement in these areas we will remove Ministry support for the Tournament and would urge our counterparts in France and Bulgaria to do the same. We-"

There was a thunderous bang and a flash that nearly blinded the reporters and knocked Fudge to the ground. There standing before them and behind Fudge were the French Minister for Magic and the Bulgarian Minister for Magic with Igor Karkarov, Olympe Maxine, Xander Harris and the four remaining Champions.

None of them looked especially happy.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I was just at Hogwarts with these good people as we listened the Minister give his 'statement'." Xander spat snidely. "None of us felt we could simply allow this man to denigrate us unchallenged.

"Let me be quite clear that I was fully opposed to this Tournament. It was only due to the Ministry forcing it upon me that it has happened. Furthermore, the Ministry has done nothing to help with the clear up and aftermath. They are not responsible for the capture and holding of Mr. Malfoy, my girlfriend, Nym Tonks, did that and Mr. Malfoy is currently being held in a Goblin facility on my orders, which means the ICW needs to petition me for extradition.

"We do however, thank the Minister for recognising the sovereignty of Hogwarts. If you have questions, please raise your hand and wait to be recognised."

Fudge was fuming. Lord Hogwarts had not only hijacked his press conference but also sullied his reputation. Worst of all, there was little he could do in full public view. He began planning to take Hogwarts and see to it that he had it firmly under his control and that Lord Hogwarts and his annoying family were no longer a threat.

Xander meanwhile pointed to a male journalist.

"Jean Dupris, Nouveux Magique. Lord Xander, I understand you personally were against the Tournament, what of your fellow co-'eads?"

Xander smiled. "In order to answer that properly, allow me to explain the origins of the Tournament. The Lady Hogwarts and her children, the Hogwarts Founders, arranged a series of games to be held between various schools that had started around the same time as Hogwarts. These games were tests of various aspects of a persons grasp on magic. Some of them were scenarios much like the Dragon task we had on Saturday.

"Back then, they didn't have the Goblet of Fire. The students would compete in internal competitions for the right to compete in the tournament with the other schools, on top of this, they could only compete with the support of the Headmaster or Headmistress.

"This is what they were expecting when they signed up for the tournament. What they got was something very different. I think it is safe to say that Hogwarts will not be participating in any future tournaments unless they revert to the original requirements."

"Andy Smudgley, The Daily Prophet. Minister Fudge, you called the son of Lucius Malfoy, 'Mr. Draco'. Why?"

This would be a big deal, Draco had been disowned and had no name to use. It was one of the worst things to happen to someone of Draco's standing. Or former standing.

"Due to the atrocities that Mr. Draco was allowed to commit by the staff at Hogwarts, he has been disowned for being such a disgrace. I am afraid I must refrain from further comment on this subject as it is a topic that should be left to the House of Malfoy." Fudge said inwardly smirking at the additional jibe at Hogwarts.

"Lord Hogwarts, your response?" Smudgley asked.

"First of all, Mr. Malfoy was not 'allowed' to commit the atrocities, as soon as it was discovered what he was doing every attempt was made to stop him. If Norberta the dragon hadn't given her life as she had, everyone would have died. If Fawkes and Neville as Phoenixes hadn't trapped the Fiendfyre Dragon, it would have destroyed Hogwarts and then rampaged the rest of the world. If Headmaster Karkarov and Viktor Krum hadn't taught Harry Potter a quick course on Fiendfyre, we would still be trying to stop it… and you would all be dead.

"Secondly, Mr. Malfoy refused the offer of additional training from Hogwarts and the other schools. He demanded that he be allowed to train with tutors provided by his father. I would be happy to swear under oath and veritiserum that he did not learn about Fiendfyre at Hogwarts.

"What Mr. Malfoy did, he did as a Malfoy, he did with the blessing of his father, Lucius Malfoy. And yet, Lucius has been allowed to go free."

"Joanna Arlington, Sydney Seer, are we really expected to believe that a fourteen year old boy was able to learn how to conjure and control Fiendfyre in the space of a few minutes and then go on to immediately control and dispel a raging out of control Fiendfyre Dragon?" The woman asked sceptically.

"Lord Hogwarts, if I may?" Igor asked politely. Xander gave the man a respectful nod and took a step back as Igor stepped forward. "As vith My Lord Hogwarts, I vould be happy to svear an oath that Lord Harry Potter of Gryffindor did indeed do as you said. However, I vill perform a demonstration."

Igor withdrew his wand and began incanting over the tip, ending with blowing across the top. A stream of fire swept out and the flame coalesced into the shape of a chimera, only this one was roughly the size of a Labrador.

The crowd gasped and began backing away nervously.

"Do not vorry, all Durmstrang students are taught to cast and control Fiendfyre in their final year. It is a test of vhat they have learnt regarding control." Igor called out in a strained voice. "This is the extent of vhat I can safely conjure and control. Harry, vould you please take control?"

Harry sighed and stepped forward. He really wanted to just go home and hide in his room. Neville had decided to move back to his old room for a few nights to give Harry the privacy he knew his friend craved.

But no, here he was standing in front of the whole world about to put on a dog and pony show.

Igor and Viktor had been very interested in Harry's ability to control and conjure Fiendfyre, especially as he had taken to conjuring it without a wand or incantation, he just blew on the palm of his hand. He could also take control of it without having to 'become' the Fiendfyre he conjured, his Fiendfyre dragon seemed to have a personality of it's own and didn't consume anything that Harry didn't want it too.

It seemed that each witch or wizard that conjured Fiendfyre, had it take a form that was representative of them. Harry, Draco and Viktor conjured dragons, Igor conjured a chimera. Harry quickly conjured his dragon and sent it to take over the chimera, soon enough the two merged and the chimera was subsumed by the dragon.

Igor visibly relaxed from the release of the strain as the dragon trotted over to Harry and Harry gave it a pat.

"As you can see, Lord Harry of Gryffindor is more than capable of doing vhat vas described." Igor grinned.

Harry was relaxing in his room, trying to decompress after the press conference that afternoon. He still hadn't had time to deal with what had happened on Saturday. At the moment he was trying to think up ways to say thank you to Neville for giving him some space by taking back his old room for a few days. It was much better than trying to focus on the last few days.

He was still hurting after losing Norbert, not to mention the clutch of eggs she had left behind. Harry was surprised that she hadn't told him. For now the four female dragons that had come for the tournament were taking turns nursing them.

One of the reasons that Harry was grateful for Neville moving out was that it gave him the freedom to sneak down to Norbert's cave and sleep there in the company of the three females and the eggs. Norbert had asked him to take care of them, and he would.

His musings were interrupted by a knock on the door. Hermione peaked in.

"Hey Harry." She said with a small smile. "Can you come out? Xander says we need to discuss some things."

Harry sighed, but struggled into a seated position. "Can't you come in here and nap with me?"

"As much as I would love to do that, we might wind up setting the alarms off." She said with a saucy smirk. "But, when we move back home we can nap all you want."

"Can we nap on the couch in the living room?" He asked hopefully.

"You think you can?" She asked with a frown. Usually Harry was far too fidgety to properly relax in a public space.

"We could sleep under my cloak." Harry grinned.

"That sounds lovely, Harry. Right up until the point where someone actually sits on us." She teased as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to standing. "Now, come on, hopefully this won't take long."

Harry pulled her into his arms and gave her soft kiss on the lips before burying his face in her neck. "I love you Hermione." He whispered softly.

Hermione sighed. She knew he was still down over the last task and losing Norbert, she hoped he would recover soon. "I love you too, Harry." She said as she kissed ear.

Harry was surprised to find not only his fellow Champions in the living room, but also the other two Heads.

"Harry, take a seat. There is an event due this Christmas and we wanted to know what you want to do." Xander explained as a love seat appeared and the young couple sat together. Harry was a little confused as Xander was sat between Nym and Fleur, and Xander looked a little unsure himself. Luna was snuggled up between Joyce and Minerva. She might be thirteen but she often came across as a little girl looking for her mummy. Something that both Joyce and Minerva were happy to indulge when Xander wasn't playing daddy.

"I thought the next task wasn't until February?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, not a task, an event." Xander grimaced.

Harry was really worried now, if it was enough to worry Xander it had to be bad. Xander had been opposed to the tournament, but he hadn't been worried.

"What is it?" Harry asked, visibly bracing.

"Tradition… one that apparently dates back to Mom's time, says there is to be a ball or dance at Christmas. One has been arranged for Christmas Eve."

"Ok, that doesn't sound too bad… what's the catch?"

Xander grinned. "Moody will be pleased with your caution Harry.

"The catch, is that the Champions and their dates are supposed to open the dancing by themselves."

"You mean-"

"You and the other three would have to dance in front of everyone for one song."

Harry froze. Fighting dragons was bad enough, but dancing!

"No, we will not do it." Fleur said decisively. "He is already hurting and it has not sunk in yet. We will not dance the first dance, let them all dance."

Cedric and Viktor shared a look. "Ve agree. Harry has done enough, let him have some peace." Viktor declared as Cedric nodded.

"But, your dates, won't they want to dance? And Hermione!" Harry objected.

"No Harry, we know you would do it for us, but we would know you would be highly uncomfortable and we would be unable to enjoy ourselves whilst you aren't able to." Hermione said gently but firmly.

"Besides, I can change the tradition a bit." Joyce shrugged. "We will have the school heads and visiting dignitaries open the dancing."

"Oh Merlin, does this mean I need to find a date?" Minerva said theatrically.

"My dear lady, would you do me the honour of escorting me to the dance?" Sal asked as he knelt before the Scottish lady.

Minerva eyed him with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know… a Slytherin? I'm not sure I could debase myself so. I will have to defer to My Lord Gryffindor." She said with a smirk.

"Which one?" Godric asked with a grin.

"The living one." Minerva snarked.

"Ach! Replaced by a younger model." Godric cried as he placed the back of his hand to his forehead. "Well young Gryffindor, what say you?"

Harry gulped as everyone turned to look at him with expectant smirks. He swallowed and thought about it for a second.

"Ok… the thing is… she's my mother, my teacher, my head of house and my Headmistress. In everyway I can think of, she outranks me."

"He's the perfect man, he knows his place!" Nym crowed.

"Makes me wonder what went wrong with my other three." Joyce teased. She was treated to several indignant protests.

"Thanks… I think." Harry said uncertainly. "The other problem is that Sal can be as persistent and annoying as anyone I've ever met. If I say no, I'll never get any peace. So… you have my permission to do what you want." He decided.

"Congratulations brother, you have taught him well. Size up your options and then pass the buck." Godric told Sal laughingly.

"I am definitely going to remember that von." Igor mused. "It is a lesson all men should learn before they marry."

Godric was nodding vigorously with Xander whilst the older women just smirked.

"I suppose I could do worse." Minerva said waving her hand dismissively. "You may escort me to the ball."

"Milady, in the words of my eldest brother… 'cool'!"

The students were informed the following day that the Yule Ball would take place and would be open to 4th years and up but that 3rd years could attend as the date of a 4th year.

Some students immediately leapt to the task and asked out their desired dates. Cedric was especially quick off the mark in asking his long time crush, Cho Chang of Ravenclaw.

Viktor couldn't think of anyone to take. He really did not want to dance at all, not because of reasons such as Harry's, but more because he was more graceful on his broom than he was on his feet. After a discussion with Neville, Cedric and Harry, he came up with a plan.

"Headmaster Harris, I vish to make a request of you." Viktor stated formally as Xander opened the door to the apartment.

"Crap that sounds official." Xander winced. He stood to the side to let Viktor enter, some lessons are never unlearned.

"Headmaster, I vould like to have your permission to ask your daughter Luna to the Yule Ball as my date as a friend."

Xander frowned. He wasn't expecting this. "No one your own age you fancy?"

"It is not that I fancy Luna, she is a nice girl. But she vill be unable to attend with no date. I have no vish to be vith a… fan girl, and Neville is making offer to Ginny. I vould like to do this, if no reason than a favour for Harry. He saved our lives, escorting his sister is no chore and vill aid me as vell."

Xander thought for a second. Viktor was a good man, and clearly very respectful. It was a wonder Godric hadn't placed him in Gryffindor, but he seemed quite happy with Hufflepuff.

"Viktor, you are a good man and I am grateful for the respect you have shown me by requesting my blessing. You have it. If Luna is agreeable, then you may escort her to the Yule Ball." Xander said formerly.

Viktor gave a short bow. "Thank you Headmaster."

"Great, now that's done, can we drop the 'Headmaster'? Luna's not here at the moment, she is currently with some friends. Anything else you want to discuss?"

Viktor took the offered seat and nodded. "Yes, during my Quidditch career I take many injuries. I find it… quicker and easier to learn to heal some vounds in flight. After last Saturday's disaster, many vere injured. Ve Champions could be injured, could ve have medical training?"

"First aid?" Xander mused interestedly. "Sounds like a great idea. Yeah, I think I can set that up. I know a few people."

Hermione was very put out when she was told that Madam Pomphrey's lessons would only be for the Champions. This was to ensure they would receive her full attention. Poppy and Xander decided to investigate creating a mandatory first aid course for the following year. What surprised Viktor and Cedric was the introduction of Dan Granger as their instructor for non-magical first aid. Xander was insistent that they need to learn how to administer first aid when magic was unwise or unavailable, his time serving as a Doctor in the Army meant he was well versed in a wide array of first aid.

Dan was just happy to be able to spend more time with Harry and Hermione, Emma would join them in the evenings for dinner.

The following day was both embarrassing and enraging for Harry and Hermione and their friends and family.

Rita Skeeter had made the front page and she was not writing about the first task.

Boy-Who-lived Heartbroken as Girlfriend chooses Durmstrang Champion!

That was the headline, Hermione was named as Harry's girlfriend of four years and that she had been seen cosy-ing up to Viktor Krum. The entire story held less than six words of truth, those words being: 'Hermione Granger is Harry Potter's girlfriend'. Everything else was either an outright fabrication or gross distortion of the truth as Hermione was painted as a gold digging floozy.

"I can't believe that bitch!" Ginny screeched.

"Ginny! Language!" Hermione admonished as they were seated for breakfast. All around them students were reading the article and murmurs were erupting. The crowd suddenly grew silent as Viktor stood suddenly and marched over to the table where Harry and his friends sat.

"Harry, I svear on my life and honour I have never done anything vith Her-My-own-nee." He said solemnly.

Harry, who was sat on the opposite side of the table so his back was to the wall indicated the seat opposite which Neville cleared for him. "I know Viktor. I trust both you and Hermione. Nothing in that article is accurate. But what can we do?" He asked helplessly.

"Ve can do plenty!" Viktor said slightly shocked that Harry Potter of all people was willing to let this lie.

"Viktor, Harry doesn't have a good history of receiving justice. He spent most of his life having far worse than this said about him." Luna said sadly.

Viktor grunted in disgust. "Then allow me to handle it. I vill have my agents arrange a press conference with a few select reporters and ve vill see this… Skeeter, buried."

"More reporters?" Harry wailed.

"Harry, you need to make friends vith the reporters. You vill be around them a lot, it is… it… must happen?" Viktor stumbled for the appropriate words.

"Unavoidable?" Ginny offered.

"Inevitable?" Luna suggested.

"Yes! Both. Some of them are good people, not like Skeeter. I vill introduce you to the good vons. It vill make it easier in the future to handle the press."

"Aren't I a good one?" Luna pouted.

"The absolute best." Harry grinned as the others nodded enthusiastically.

Whilst the others were at lunch, Viktor went to speak with Xander about dealing with Skeeter and Harry's fear of the press.

At dinner Hermione and Viktor were drowned in owls.

"Why are people writing you?" Harry asked curiously.

"It is likely not good." Viktor grimaced. His hand shot out with seeker reflexes and stopped Hermione's hand before she could reach for a nearby owl. "Do not touch them, some people they… put spells on letters."

"Booby traps?" She asked nervously as she suddenly pulled back from the owl.

"Yes, booby traps." Viktor confirmed.

Despite Viktor's warning there was one owl that was clearly agitated.

"What's Errol doing here?" Ginny wondered as she went over to the ancient Weasley Post Owl. There tied to his leg was a red letter that appeared to be smoking. She quickly began to untie the letter before the bird was hurt. Only for the letter to suddenly unfurl and Molly Weasley's screaming voice filled the Great Hall.

"HERMIONE GRANGER! HOW COULD YOU BETRAY POOR HARRY LIKE THAT! CAVORTING WITH STRANGE MEN LIKE SOME SCARLET WOMAN! YOU ARE AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE AND YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!"

There was a deathly silence as the Howler rolled up and vanished in a puff of smoke. Harry was absolutely livid, as was Viktor. The twins and Ginny were right behind them.

Hermione just sat there with tears streaming down her face. Luna who was seated on her other side from Harry pulled her into a hug.

"Harry, take care of Hermione." Xander's voice startled Harry as he hadn't realised that Xander had moved from his seat at the table. What scared him more was the murderous look on Dan and Emma's faces as they stood to his right.

Emma knelt down and retrieved Hermione from Luna's arms and pulled her daughter close. "Xander, your father and I are going to have a word Molly Weasley. This was unacceptable." She muttered quietly into Hermione's hair.

"Lord Hogwarts, a moment." Percy called out from his place at the staff table. Percy moved to a corner behind the staff table as Xander joined him.

"I hope you are not about to try and justify or defend your mother, Percy." Xander warned.

Percy just scoffed. "If I thought it would help I would come with you! No, I will have my hands full trying to keep my younger siblings from committing Matricide."

"Kill their beds?" Xander asked, slightly worried that this was a magical custom he hadn't heard of.

"No sir, their mother." Percy said as he tried to hide a smile. "Even Ronald seems to realise that Mother has crossed the line."

Xander looked over and saw that Ron Weasley did look very disappointed and sad.

"Ok, so what did you want to say?"

"Before the three of you confront my mother, you should go and confront my father first. He would never condone what she has done. My family owes you and Lord Harry a life debt for saving Ginevra, she has disgraced us by her actions. My father needs to be made aware of what has happened as Head of House. He needs to be able to make overtures and apologies for the House." Percy saw that Xander was dubious about this. "It's a wizarding thing, if you don't and Dad can't make amends it will destroy the entire Weasley House."

"Alright, so I take Dan and Emma to Arthur and explain the situation then he can guide us from there."

"Yes… actually, let me come with you to explain to Father. I can also explain things from a pureblood point of view for you."

"Molly, would you join us in the kitchen please?" Arthur called out as he let his guests in. Having heard the whole story from Xander, the Grangers and his own son, he knew he had no option but to leave work immediately and deal with this situation.

Molly strode quickly into the room not paying attention to who was there. "Arthur? Why are you home early?"

"'Why' Molly?" Arthur asked unbelievingly. "Because you had the gall to insult a young lady who I happen to hold in high esteem and who is dating the head of a notable house and who belongs to a family made up of heads of even more notable families."

"Arthur, you're not making any sense dear. What are you on about?"

Arthur gestured to the three adults seated at the table. "You remember Dan and Emma? Hermione Granger's parents. And Lord Hogwarts, of course. Her boyfriends father."

Molly visibly paled as she realised what was going on.

"Ah! I see you have realised the problem." Arthur spat harshly. "Just what the devil were you thinking Molly?"

Molly had quailed at first under her husbands ire, something that she hadn't seen since Fred and George had nearly tricked Ron into an Unbreakable Vow. But then she rallied and launched her defence.

"I was simply attempting to ensure the girl didn't hurt Harry. I read the Prophet, I know what she is doing."

Dan shot to his feet. "How dare you!" Dan shouted. "Hermione has done nothing wrong and absolutely nothing that that blasted paper says she did!"

"Dan." Emma said quietly with a calm yet angered look. Dan knew his wife wanted to take it from here, and he was loathe to back off, but he trusted Emma.

"Molly, let's forget the actual paper and accusations they made for a moment and focus purely on what you did wrong." She said as she calmly sat down, Dan following her lead. "You accused my daughter of betrayal of the boy she loves. A boy who is not your family. You had no right to interfere in a family matter."

"Harry is as good as family to us!" Molly argued.

"But he is not your family." Xander said quietly with a nasty look. "You should have come to his actual family head, me, first."

"You're not his real family either! The boy is an orphan!"

"Molly! Why must you be so stupid?" Arthur raged. "Xander and his family were accepted magically by Harry and vice versa. They are family in everyway that counts! You know this, stop being so… obtuse!"

Molly looked indignant but held her peace. Emma moved on.

"You called my daughter a 'Scarlet Woman'. I don't care if it's my daughter or yours, that type of behaviour is inappropriate when attempting to take the moral stance with anyone. Worst of all, you did all of this in front of the entire school. Students, professors and support staff alike. Even the ghosts were there and I am sure the paintings all know by now."

"And if that wasn't bad enough you went behind my back as Head of House!" Arthur added. That was a big no-no. Arthur's authority as Head of House was absolute as a Pureblood. It was rarely exercised by the average Head of House, but in matters such as this they had to make the decisions.

"You would not have done anything!" Molly argued.

"BECAUSE IT'S NOT OUR PLACE!" Arthur roared.

Molly flinched back in absolute shock. She had never seen Arthur like this, even during the last war he had been easy and affable, a good mentor to James and his young friends. Molly had no idea how to handle this new Arthur.

"Perhaps we should move onto the other half of the problem?" Xander suggested.

Arthur visibly reigned himself in then turned to Xander gave a tight nod and took a step back. Xander just nodded in sad understanding at Arthur. The man would need a stout drink later, he and his brothers would see to it.

"Where did you get your information Molly?" Xander asked calmly from where he was seated.

"Fr-fr-from the Prophet of course!" Molly stuttered, she was very unsure of her footing at this point.

"And?" Dan prompted.

"And what?"

"You got your information from the Prophet and…?" He prompted.

"Just the Prophet, where else?" She asked bewilderedly.

"Hermione? Harry?" Dan offered.

"Xander, Sirius, Remus, Rick, Sal, Joyce, Minerva." Emma continued.

"Percy, George, Fred, Ginny and for Merlin's sake even Ron!" Arthur spat.

"Rita Skeeter is a well respected-"

"-Nothing!" Xander spat. "She physically attacked my daughter and wrote various lies about me, my family and my school. She will be dealt with very soon."

"And just how am I supposed to know this?" Molly argued with indignation.

"By using your brain?" Xander mocked snidely.

"Asking those of us you used to call friends?"

"Actually none of that matters, all those arguments would be moot because you did what you did with consultation or permission of your Head of House." Arthur said tiredly and dejectedly as he sat down next to Xander.

Emma, as royally pissed as she was, truly felt for Arthur. She had no real understanding of how this Head of House deal worked, but she could see that Arthur was truly hurting and reaching the end of his tether. She moved forward and placed her hands on Arthur's shoulders gently rubbing them.

"How dare you touch my husband!" Molly screeched as she drew her wand.

Arthur was faster and Molly slumped to the floor.

Arthur just sat back down and placed his wand on the table. Unmoving and silent. Dan and Emma were shocked and couldn't think what to do.

Xander just sighed, his hands relaxing as he stood down from raising hell before Arthur beat him too it. He sent out a mental message to Joyce as he stood up and raided the cupboard for the bottle of bourbon he remembered giving Arthur and Molly as a thank you for letting them stay that first summer.

"Here, drink up." He said as he placed a conjured glass in front of the dejected Weasley Patriarch. He then proceeded to do the same for Dan and Emma.

"What do we do?" Emma asked nervously, she was not entirely happy about leaving Molly lying on the floor but didn't want to do anything wrong, she was already sitting on the opposite side of the table to Arthur now.

"We wait a few minutes while those older and wiser than us make their way to aid and advise us." Xander said solemnly, they spent the next few minutes in silence as Xander thought fondly of the times when Giles had been his 'older and wiser' mentor.

The front door was soon opened to admit Bill, Godric and Augusta Longbottom with Bill carrying Godric's hat. People that Xander knew Arthur respected and could lean on. Godric was only too pleased to help as Arthur was the epitome of a Gryffindor, he wasn't going to let a member of his house suffer if he could help it.

Xander called in Dobby to take Molly upstairs and put her to bed and the rest sat down with a glass of bourbon.

"What are Arthur's options?" Xander asked.

"That will depend on Molly." Augusta said gravely. "From what you have described, she seems absolutely steadfast that she did nothing wrong and would likely refuse to apologise?"

"At the moment." Xander allowed.

"She won't change her mind." Arthur said sadly. "She is far too stubborn."

"Father, may I speak freely and without reservation to our guests?" Bill requested.

Arthur blanched. Bill was clearly wanting to air the families dirty laundry. He knew that no one at the table would ever speak of it but it was still not something he would ever want to do. But he also realised that these people were the only way that he could save his family… or at the very least, his children.

Arthur just nodded.

"I am about to share the darker side of the Weasley family with you. So we would appreciate it if you would keep this private." Bill said looking each one in the eye. "My mother is, as muggles say, a control freak. In every sense of the word. It's why I went to Egypt and why Charlie went to Romania. After all, I could have taken a Curse-breaker job in Britain and Charlie could have worked with the dragons in Gringotts.

"Ginny took a lot of heat during the summer because she wasn't the proper little lady that mum had drilled into her. Dad didn't know this at first, it was the twins that clued him in and it took a lot of arguing from what I hear for him to convince mum to leave Ginny be."

"Ok, so maybe she needs to speak to a psychiatrist." Dan suggested.

"Forgive me, but what is a 'psychiatrist'?" Augusta asked politely.

"A non-magical healer who can help people talk through mental and emotional problems." Xander explained. He had spent more than his share of time on the couch after the fall of Sunnydale.

"We have potions and charms for that." Augusta pointed out.

"Yes, but my reading leads us to believe they don't deal with the cause of the problems, just the effects. A combination of potions and psychiatry is what non-magicals use." Dan frowned.

"Muggles use potions?" Bill asked curiously.

"No, and I think this is a topic to be discussed after we have helped Arthur." Xander said firmly. "Bearing in mind Molly's mindset, what are Arthur's options?"

"He can confiscate her wand and confine her to the family home for no less than a year.

"He can order her magic bound.

"He can also expel her from the family." Augusta listed.

There were sharp intakes of breath from Bill and Arthur, not of surprise but at the shock of actually hearing the options spoken of.

"Can't Arthur start with just reprimanding her and giving her a warning? Or even sending her away for a time." Xander asked.

"The offence she committed was against three families belonging to even more houses and very public. The accusations were unacceptable coming from a housewife, given their nature. There must be a suitable punishment or the honour of the Weasley House will carry the stain and stigma and so will the children." Godric answered.

"And the kids are the reason we are here." Arthur said hoarsely.

"And a big part of this is the effect that her actions will have on the Weasley House standing and their children?" Xander asked for clarification.

"They could become outcasts in wizarding society." Godric said sadly.

"Dan, Emma, what would you do? What would be the most likely thing to happen if Molly did this in the non-magical world?" Xander asked.

Dan looked at Emma and they thought for a second. Dan started. "Well, bearing in mind that men and women are 'technically' equals, the ideal solution would stem from the fact that one member of the family has fallen out with the rest of the family and is doing things that hurt the family as a whole."

"What do you mean 'technically equals'?" Augusta asked.

"When it comes to things like freedom, education and so on, men and women are supposed to be equal. Men don't have command over women in general or vice versa, but in reality, there are many things that make that completely false. Women still earn less, have less rights in a marriage, things like that." Emma explained.

"To put it simply, it's a work in progress and progress is slow." Dan shrugged. "But, we are looking at this from the 'ideal non-magical perspective'. If Arthur and Molly were Emma and myself. The best solution would be a separation. A temporary one where Molly would live away from the family for a time and only have supervised visits with the children. If the situation can be resolved then they can resume living together and life as a family.

"If it doesn't work then the next step is divorce."

"What would doing that mean for a pureblood family?" Xander asked.

Godric and Augusta frowned as they thought about it.

"It would be considered rather harsh." Godric admitted. "It would be the same as expelling her from the house. Molly would be disgraced."

"What if we didn't tell anyone we were sending her away but gave her a job somewhere that would require her to spend time away from the family?" Xander suggested.

"Arthur needs Molly to apologise publicly or to make the apology himself, but if he does it himself, he has to announce that he has taken measures against his wife for her transgressions." Augusta sighed.

"Does he have to say what measures?" Emma asked.

"Only to you, Dan and Viktor's father." Godric shrugged.

"So we just confirm to them what is going on and then have Arthur apologise to the families in public." Xander shrugged.

"I… I don't think I can live without Molly." Arthur said shakily, tears began to poor down his face. "I just love her so much." He whispered.

Bill growled and smashed his hand on the table angrily startling the others. "As the heir to the Head of House Weasley I declare my belief that my father is under the influence of an outside source. I hereby claim my place as Head of House until this is proven one way or another."

The look of shock on Augusta and Godric's faces was enough for the others to realise this was huge, not to mention the general statement itself.

"What source?" Xander asked carefully.

Bill had a look of disgust on his face. "My mother." He spat. "Some of you may have heard her tell the story of how she and Dad started going out, you may have heard her casually heard joke about using love potion to help get his attention?"

"Oh no." Godric groaned.

The others except Bill and Arthur looked at Godric expectantly.

"I heard the story, I thought it was cute." Emma shrugged.

"Emma dear, love potions are highly illegal, the consequences are even more dire when you consider that she used them on the heir to a Head of House." Augusta explained gently.

"You know of the Unforgivables? The Imperious curse that controls a person?" Bill asked.

Dan and Emma both nodded. "Love potions are the Imperious without the wand or incantation."

"And you believe she wasn't joking?" Dan asked.

"'Many a truth said in jest'." Godric quoted sternly, he took on an air of dominance and power, of a man who had earned respect and command of the situation. "Lord Hogwarts, please take Arthur and Bill Weasley to Madam Pomphrey and ask her to examine both for various potions and poisons including love potions. I recommend consulting Lord Slytherin and Professor Flamel as well.

"My Lady Longbottom, would you be so kind as to summon Madam Bones and ask her to arrive discretely at our request?"

Augusta understood the situation perfectly and stood and gave slight curtsey. "Yes My Lord Gryffindor."

"Now brother." Godric said quietly to a worried looking Xander. "And please summon the rest of the Weasley family for similar examinations, including young Charlie."

Xander stood and gave a short quick bow to Godric before touching Bill and Arthur's shoulders and they vanished.

Arthur Weasley was admitted that evening to St. Mungo's for further testing. His last act before being led away was to officially approve his son as his heir and relinquish his position as Head of House.

In order to allow them some time to come to terms with the news that they were the product of what was essentially rape, Bill withdrew the children still attending. The Burrow was off limits whilst the DMLE investigated but Xander, Minerva, Luna and Harry instantly offered their home in London for them to use. Dan and Emma promised to help as much as they could. It was Harry who practically ordered Winky and Bill to accept each other as elf and family. Hermione was not pleased but held her peace.

The following day Bill stood before the Great Hall and at breakfast and made formal apologies for the House of Weasley to Hermione and Viktor. Viktor being of age accepted the apology himself whilst Dan accepted for Hermione. Viktor shook hands with Bill and then sat back down with the other Hufflepuffs.

"Arthur Weasley is an honourable man and a good friend. As are his children." Xander declared to the Great Hall. They had invited journalists for this occasion. "Only one of their family has acted with dishonour and deceit. The Houses of Hogwarts, Potter, Gryffindor, Granger and their friends and family stand with House Weasley and offer aid and support in this trying time for them. We ask that you respect their privacy and them as individuals."

There had been an all night discussion on how far they could go to support the Weasley's the night before. Xander had eventually made his position clear.

"Some traditions are all fine and good, as long as they don't work against justice and good people. The British Wizarding World is stuck in the Victorian era, and I am not talking about fashion and technology. There are roughly 3 to 4 thousand magicals in Britain, most of our new Hogwarts intake are first generations, it's time for the magical world to grow up."

Hermione was thrilled, Augusta was worried. Dan however saw this and invited to show her around the non-magical world.

*Chapter 28*: Chapter 28  
A week before the Yule Ball Draco and his instructors who had been arrested for the First Task debacle, were to be transferred from Goblin custody to international holdings in France.

They never made it as the party was caught up in an unusual trap that intercepted the Portkey as it travelled over the English Channel. All that arrived in Calais was four dead prisoners four dead French Aurors and six dead Goblins.

All international Portkey and Apparition travel was immediately halted whilst this was investigated. This effectively placed magical Pureblood Britain in quarantine as wizards had no intention of mixing with muggles to use their trains and boats.

Fudge was furious that he was once again being sidelined, as this was another international incident and he was being forced to allow the ICW to investigate, any other action would result in international incidents.

The investigation was relatively short. The location where the trap was cast was easily tracked due to the high level of magic… and because the French Aurors knew what they were doing. But they were unable to locate the perpetrators or any evidence. As a result, the investigation was left open and Draco and his instructors were tried and sentenced posthumously in the interests of justice. Needless to say he was found guilty of multiple counts of manslaughter and recklessness.

Xander and his brothers were in no doubt that Lucius had killed his own son to prevent him from telling any secrets that might lead back to him. Xander was trying hard to restrain himself from simply killing the bastard.

It had been a tiring few weeks for Xander. He had desperately been trying to keep Harry and the kids out of the adult business. Especially the situation with Malfoy and his subsequent demise. There had been a few times when he wished he was back in Sunnydale facing the Hell Beast. But he wouldn't leave Harry and Luna for anything. He loved them. They where his children and he would kill anyone who tried to hurt them. He would die for them.

But long ago in another reality he had learnt it is a far more difficult yet impressive effort to live for someone. But his kids where worth it.

Harry, Hermione and Neville had been continuing their instructions for the other Champions. It had been decided that they would try their animagus transformations after the second task. They had successfully mastered phasing, teleporting and mental communication but were still having issues with casting wandlessly, wordlessly and without relying on spells. But they were improving.

A few days before the Yule Ball the Weasley children returned to Hogwarts. They were a subdued group who were still coming to terms with the fact that they were the product of a farce of a marriage and that most of their childhood was a lie in some shape or form. At first they were sneered at by the Slytherin's and other purebloods, but only the Slytherin females who had been in Draco's group joined in. The other females were more sympathetic as they realised that what Molly had done to Arthur Weasley was something that they were at risk of having done to them.

The twins did their best to joke at the female attention they were being lavished with, but it was clearly forced. Xander spoke to Nicholas after the mornings breakfast when the Weasley's had turned up, that evening after they had finished the meal Xander and Nicholas both stood up.

"Believe it or not, we do actually pay attention to you guys." Xander said. "We can see a lot of worry and fear that you might be a victim like Arthur Weasley and his children were. Professor Flamel and I have come to an arrangement."

As Xander stood aside, Nicholas came forward and raised his wand. "I, Nicholas Flamel, swear on my magic that I have never and will never use potions to maliciously affect any student who is a member of this school."

There was an air of confusion as no one could understand why the 600 year old man would make an oath like that.

"The meal that you just ate, contained a general neutralising agent that will make sure that you never get dosed with love potions or slow acting poisons. As long as you eat at least one of your three meals a day you will not be affected by someone secretly drugging you. If you are still worried, remember that our lovely School Nurse is always available to speak with you." Xander explained as Poppy stood and blushed prettily.

This announcement was met with relief from a majority of the school. Especially people like Neville Longbottom and Susan Bones who came from prominent families and would be prime targets for something like this.

From a distinct group of purebloods and obsessed Harry Potter fans that felt it was their right to use love potions to make the object of their obsessions notice them there was a lot of grumbling. Xander carefully made a mental note of a few young females who were clearly outraged at being stopped before they could start.

The Great Hall was sparkling in golds, silvers and whites. A far cry from the usual dreary stone. The students were currently milling around in their dress robes and gowns. Even the parents were there. All that was missing were the guests of honour. The Yule Ball was about to begin.

The doors to the Great Hall opened and Percy announced in a loud voice. "Introducing our esteemed guests…"

Various adults in varying styles of dress robes and gowns flowed slowly in as Percy announced each one. There were the various heads of governments for both the three participating countries and countries that were interested in some form of international games, but obviously not ones that caused mass murder.

After the dignitaries had entered, the Heads of Schools were announced.

Xander was leading this group as the reluctant public face of the School, what shocked the assembled was his date, Fleur Delacour.

It was only the night before that Nym and Luna had sat Fleur and Xander down to talk.

Flashback

"Xander, I love you, I intend to marry you, but you need to start dating Fleur." Nym stated seriously.

Xander just stared at her calmly. He began to look between Luna and Nym. Luna had a rather gleeful smile on her face. "Two wives, Luna?" He asked his beloved daughter.

"For now." She shrugged cutely.

Xander squeezed his eyes shut tightly and rubbed them with his thumb and forefinger. "Any chance we can do this after she graduates?" Fleur was legal but it would still be scandalous.

"No, and don't talk about Fleur as if she isn't here." Luna admonished sternly.

"Sorry Fleur, just a little tired and confused." Xander apologised.

"It's ok, I'm still trying to understand it as well." Fleur admitted.

"And you are ok with this?" Xander asked Nym.

"Luna warned me before we started dating. I've had a lot of time to come to terms with it." She grinned saucily.

Xander groaned, apparently one of his future wives now had designs on the other. "The reasons?" Xander asked Luna.

"There is no such thing as a 'male Veela'. Veela can only give birth to females so most Veela are married into families with more than one son or to a man with a human wife.

"Also, you are King of the Werewolves and a Veela wife would be great for Veela/Werewolf relations." She explained happily.

"You've 'seen' all this?" Xander asked making air-quotes.

Luna nodded like a bubble headed doll with an over dose of the Joker's Laughing Gas.

"You two are happy to try this?" He asked, turning to each of the ladies on either side of him.

"I have been taught that this may be the only way I would find a husband." Fleur admitted a little sadly.

"Which makes me sound like a last ditch effort." Xander said a little whiningly.

"She's for it, she just never thought it would be with the king of the goblins and werewolves." Nym admonished. "We've already discussed this Xander and wouldn't have approached you unless we were agreed."

Xander sat forward and put his face in his hands as he contemplated this potential relationship minefield.

Xander's experience with the 'fairer sex' was spotty… or more accurately, disastrous. The fact of the matter was that half of the women he dated, really didn't fit too well under the banner of 'fairer sex'. Mantis Teacher, Ampata, Anya, Cordelia, Faith… that's not to say they were all evil… Mantis Teacher not withstanding, but each one had ended in a disastrous fashion.

On the other hand… he was being offered every guys dream. Two hot chicks who were willing to share and work together.

"Right, fine. But you can make the important decisions like when we get married and you can propose." Xander said a little heatedly. He stood up and marched to his bedroom.

The three girls looked nervously at each other, Luna knew what the future held, but not what the journey to get there would be like.

Xander returned and held out a small velvet box to Nym. "I'm assuming this changes things so now you get to make the decisions." He said wearily.

Nym paled. She knew what was in the box. Even pureblood wizards used engagement rings.

"You… you were going to propose?" She asked shakily.

"I love you Nym. I have a much better support group around me than the last time I tried to get married so I figure this time I can do it right." Xander explained tiredly. He had been planning this all week, stressing and fussing. No one but Joyce knew. Not even Harry, and that was the one person he was worried about. Joyce had said it would be ok and he should let Harry find out with everyone else.

Luna sighed and rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Daddy, the only thing that changes is the timing. Everything else stays the same. You and Nym get married. The only question is when and will you be marrying two women at the same time."

"Ok, just… give me some time to deal with this. You all have obviously been getting used to this for some time. Just don't get upset with me if I seem uncomfortable at first." Xander warned. "It's late and I need to sleep." Xander declared as he stood and made his way to his bedroom.

He paused at the threshold and turned back to look at his two… girlfriends. "Nothing physical can happen between us beyond little kisses and from now until you graduate we are to be chaperoned at all times." He told Fleur firmly. "I can't afford to have my reputation tarnished, what with the Ministry breathing down our necks and I definitely don't want yours damaged as it's not exactly shiny in this country due to your being a Veela."

"Mummy can do it in school and Aunty Gussy can do it outside." Luna declared firmly.

"I suggest you have Luna help you ask her. I would love to see her try and turn down that face." He grinned as he saw the happy smile on Luna's face.

"Love you Daddy!" She declared in her childlike way.

"Love you too sweetie." Xander chuckled as he headed into his bedroom.

"That went well." Luna grinned.

Nym and Fleur just stared at her.

End Flashback

Xander thought Fleur was hot, and a great person. Anyone who both his adopted children liked was someone he liked. But he had honestly never considered her as a girlfriend. Fantasised, sure. He had no idea his girlfriend was lusting after her or that his daughter was trying to set the three of them up.

Nym had insisted that he take Fleur as his date to the Yule Ball as it would be the perfect first date. Every girls dream come true. Xander had a hard time believing Faith would agree, but he accepted the sentiment.

Nym would be escorted by her cousin, Sirius just as Godric would escort their mother, Joyce.

As if Fleur and Xander weren't scandal enough, Percy's next declaration caused the hall to completely shut down in shock.

"Headmaster Remus Lupin of the Lupine Academy and Miss Narcissa Black."

The Lupine Academy and Remus himself had recently become very public after the farce of a First Task of the Tournament. Having the premiere school of Europe in alliance with a school for Werewolves was a scandal bigger than when Sirius broke out of Azkaban. Many were enraged that the children were being placed in close proximity to the evil and dangerous creatures. Two thirds of the parents involved were partially convinced by their children that Professor Lupin was one of the nicest and best teachers they had ever had, aside from the loveable Professor Flitwick.

Xander, Luna and Remus produced several articles in the Quibbler about Werewolves. Many read with scepticism until Xander and Remus gave a series of interviews on the WWN. They ended with a demonstration on the steps of Gringotts where Remus was caged during his transformation and then released and revealed to be nothing but a loveable puppy.

The Ministry of Magic decried the whole thing as dangerous and immoral. Even Amelia Bones was against it for fear of inciting mass panic. As a result of the Ministry's public objections, the entirety of Diagon Alley was filled with witches and magicals whose morbid curiosity drew them in like a moth to the flame. Views and attitudes were slowly changing.

A simple experiment revealed that Xander didn't need to be present anymore for the werewolves of the Lupine Village to retain the benefits of keeping their minds. Xander was trying to come up with a schedule for him to visit villages in Bulgaria at the request of the Bulgarian Minister who had been made privy to Xander's status.

Regardless of the recent revelations, the sight of the Pureblood Princess, Narcissa Black on the arm of a werewolf was a huge scandal. The Blacks were known to have had the 'purest' of blood. It was impossible to find a half blood or first-generation in their family tree for as long as the tree existed.

And here she was on the arm of some dirty mongrel. The papers would have a field day.

Especially when Lord Black would reveal they had his blessing. Lucius Malfoy would go ballistic, not that he could do much considering the blackmail material Narcissa had on him.

Finally the Champions were announced, which meant that Xander had teleported himself and Fleur back outside. Percy was doing his best not to laugh as he re-announced the couple. Viktor and Luna were outright smirking, as were Cedric and Cho. Harry just looked plain nervous as Hermione held his arm tightly and spoke soothingly over the mental link along with Joyce who was already seated with her other sons.

"The Heads of School will now open the first dance." Percy announced.

Madame Maxine had come on the arm of Hagrid who was dressed in a dashing set of dress robes. Minerva and Nym had both agreed that what Hagrid considered 'dashing' others considered 'not quite dead'. They had enlisted Salazar and Sirius and dragged him off to Madam Malkins. The proprietor herself had seen to Hagrid with a fervour that had landed her on her back for a few hours after climbing so many ladders.

Igor was accompanied by his wife Lynette who had travelled from Bulgaria especially for the event.

The four heads took to the dance floor with their partners. It was clear that Xander and Fleur would be garnering most of the attention with Remus and Narcissa coming a close second. They moved fluidly with the music, flowing around the floor like leaves on the wind.

After a short while Harry encouraged his fellow champions to take to the dance floor. Eventually Harry and Hermione were able to slip in with the others as there were plenty of other dancers for Harry to be lost in.

It was a long dance, but just the one before they were all seated and Percy announced the feast would begin. The Champions, much to Harry's relief were seated separately on a long table in front of which were numerous round tables where the other students and guests sat. Behind them was an even longer table where the nobles, politicians and school heads sat.

The evening was filled with light banter, it was a feast to celebrate cooperation and unity between nations and schools, politics were left at the door, even Albus Dumbledore and Fudge were there. Xander had managed to put aside his burning hatred for Dumbledore at Sirius' request. Lord Black had reasoned that the ancient wizard would be an invaluable ally when Voldemort returned.

That said, Xander avoided the man as much as possible.

He had no say over Fudge.

After the feast the dancing resumed. For around half an hour, ballroom dancing took place before Joyce divided the hall neatly in half and erected a sound proof wall. On one side was the original ballroom and the other held an enlarged replica of the Bronze from back in Sunnydale. Most of the students headed for the Bronze. Those brave adults who also ventured forth were soon scurrying back as they were assaulted by a veritable wall of noise.

The Champions were required to mingle with the dignitaries, something that Harry was relieved about. They moved as a group and protected him from anyone like Fudge who clearly wanted to parade him around in front of the representatives of other countries. Xander and Fleur took great pleasure in having Fleur's father introduce Harry instead of Fudge. Fudge could do nothing but stare on in impotent rage and plot his revenge.

Both parties wound down and the students were sent to bed. Xander, with Fleur at his side stood at the door to the Great Hall as the dignitaries left, many offering help with security for the next task in February. Xander assured them they would be fine.

The following day, instead of the students heading home for Christmas, the parents of students were ferried to the school by Harry Air. Harry was not entirely happy about this. The Hogwarts parents were easy, any parent coming would meet at Kings Cross Station and Harry would teleport them all whilst they sat in the Hogwarts Express.

Unfortunately, Harry had never been to Beauxbatons or Durmstrang and had to take a Portkey. Harry spent most of the time glaring at Xander for volunteering him.

"Why couldn't we just send the carriage and boat back for them?" Harry whined as they stood over the long stick that Minerva had made into a Portkey for them.

"We could, but I want you to know where these places are so you can get there on your own." Xander explained.

"You're making me transport them back as well, aren't you?" Harry frowned suspiciously.

Xander just grinned. "Some times a display of power will make you valuable allies for the future, or at the very least, dissuade possible enemies from taking up against you."

"Fine, but in return I want permission to visit the Dragon Reserve in Romania when I have my free time." Harry argued.

Xander thought about it for a moment. "Ok, but you will need to let Joyce know before you leave and I would prefer you have someone accompany you. Even if it is just Hermione or Neville."

"Not Luna?"

"Luna doesn't have access to a powerful magimagus form like them, and she doesn't seem to want to learn anything beyond the basics of what they know for how we use magic. It's as if she's Seen something." Xander explained referring to Luna's visions and knowledge of the future.

Christmas day had promised to be full of joy and fun. Right up until a special edition of the Daily Prophet was delivered to everyone at the Christmas feast.

Hogwarts' Giant Mistake!

By Rita Skeeter

It has come to the attention of this reporter that for the past fifty years or so, Hogwarts has been terrorized by a vicious giant! Rubeus Hagrid, the so-called 'Keeper of the Keys of Hogwarts' and Care of Magical Creatures Professor, was originally a student at Britain's premiere seat of education. His violent tendencies were evident even then as he was expelled for opening the Chamber of Secrets and releasing Slytherin's Monster.

Even now his classes in Care of Magical Creatures are potentially life-threatening as he has had students mauled by hippogriffs, dragons, basilisks, nifflers and a monster of his own creation which he calls a 'blast-ended skrewt'.

The article went on to give Hagrid's history and life story. Much of which was clearly fiction or biased.

There was a rustling and banging from one of the tables as Hagrid tried to stealthily sneak away.

"SIT YOUR BUTT BACK IN THAT CHAIR!" Xander shouted.

Hagrid knew that Xander would never hurt him, unless he turned evil, not that anyone thought the loveable giant would. But when Xander was angry his voice held an animalistic growl.

Xander spoke loudly and addressed the students and parents.

"Many of the parents here were once students at this school. Most of you were here during the last fifty years. Fifty years during which Hagrid was working here.

"I know Binns was a boring old sod, but most of you should have learnt about giants since then. Anyone who couldn't tell Hagrid was a giant, or part giant, clearly wasn't smart enough to attend classes here.

"So I don't really know how Rita Skeeter managed to make it through Hogwarts and graduate.

"I will be heading over to the Prophets' offices after the feast to have a word with their editor. In the meantime, I think Hagrid could use some friends around him and assurances that we don't think he is a violent and barbaric oaf."

There was a moment of stunned amusement as Luna and Ginny shared a look and suddenly rushed to the half-giant and hugged the stuffing out of whatever part they could reach. Then many of the younger years followed suit. Hagrid just sat there patting the heads of those he could reach as he silently cried at the love he was being shown.

Sirius then stood up. "I think we can turn this into an impromptu 'roast', as the non-magicals call it! If you have a fun or moving story you want to share then come up to the podium and the rest of us will continue our meal and await our turn." He grinned mischievously.

Surprisingly, the first person to approach the podium was Harry. The podium was enchanted to carry a persons voice so they didn't have to cast a charm on themselves. Harry was grateful for this as he hated public speaking.

"My story, is of how Hagrid saved the Saviour of the Wizarding World. It began a few days before my eleventh birthday when a letter was delivered through the front door letter box…"

Harry held the group of parents, students, professors and families in awe and rapture as he told his story. There were tears as Harry revealed what his home was like, how he was trapped in a cupboard under the stairs.

There was laughter as he told of how hundreds of owls delivered hundreds of letters through every orifice the house held… and some it shouldn't have.

The tears flowed again as Harry spoke of how he spent the last few minutes of his tenth year with no one to celebrate, and barely a sheet to keep him warm.

"I was just so alone and depressed. I was being forced to leave and be dragged through the wind and rain because of letters addressed to me and I still didn't know what was in them!" Harry wailed.

"It was about a minute to midnight. My last sixty seconds of being ten. I remember I drew a birthday cake in the dirt on the floor I was lying in and when the day ticked over I blew on the candles I drew.

"That's right when the banging sounded.

"Not like someone knocking on the front door, but a heavy thunder like bang on the huge wooden door of the building we were in. The Dursley's woke up and Uncle Vernon grabbed his gun.

"Then… the door fell in and standing in the doorway was my saviour. Rubeus Hagrid." Harry declared happily as he pointed to his very first friend who was crying himself in memory.

Harry went on to tell how Hagrid had effectively neutralised and terrorised the Dursleys. The room was filled with cheers and laughter at the telling of Dudley's tail.

Harry told them about the day in Diagon Ally and how Hagrid bought him his first ever present. Hedwig made an entrance at this point and landed on Harry's shoulder.

"I think we can all agree that this is one of the few times when it is ok to 'buy your friends'." Harry quipped earning himself a few laughs much to Sirius and Xander's pride.

"For years I was lauded as the 'Saviour of the Wizarding World'. For something I didn't even remember doing. For me, Hagrid is my hero and my saviour." Harry declared firmly. He stood back from the podium and faced Hagrid and offered a deep bow before returning to his seat.

No one knew who started it, but gradually the hall filled with applause as everyone stood in a united show of respect and love for the loveable Rubeus Hagrid.

Nobody wanted to follow Harry's epic tale so nobody did.

Later that afternoon Xander stormed the Daily Prophet offices with Neville, Harry, Sal and Sirius. Five noble lords against some common wizard who had the audacity to print rubbish about their friend.

"If I find you have printed one word of untruth about our dear friend, I will see to it that you are made a laughing stock in the wizarding world." Salazar threatened. Despite his assurances that he was not anti-muggleborn, most people still regarded him as fearsome. Much to the amusement of Neville and the others.

"Add to that, she claims to have spoken to several students." Xander added. "If I find any of your reporters on my property again, I will have them arrested for trespassing and have the charges levied against you as well, as their employer."

The following day Xander gathered together a select group, Joyce, Sal, Rick, Sirius, Hermione and the Weasley twins.

"I've called you all here today, because I know who the murderer is!" Xander declared.

The room was filled with blank looks… except for Joyce who was snickering away and Hermione who was shaking her head with her face buried in her hands.

"How did you survive all those years with him?" Hermione asked Joyce woefully.

"Please! Xander was a breath of fresh air, even before I knew about my eldest daughters night time activities." Joyce scoffed.

"Should you really be disrespecting your boyfriends father?" Xander asked imperiously.

Hermione just stared at him.

"Right… moving on!" Xander declared with a clap of his hands. "I think Nasty Rita snuck onto the premises and spied on us and spoke to students. I called the twins and Sirius in because they are good with this." He held up the Marauders Map. "Joyce, Sal and Rick are good with the castle and wards and Hermione is… too damned smart. I want you to make a larger version of this and have it automatically track and alert us about unauthorised visitors."

"So… nothing too hard then?" Sal asked sarcastically.

"Better get Moony in on this. He was the brains behind our outfit." Sirius recommended.

"Right then, I have done my part! I'll leave it in your capable hands." Xander grinned.

"And just what was your part?" Hermione asked.

"I came up with the idea!"

"Can't argue with logic like that." George nodded sagely.

"Unless you're a wizard dear brother." Fred corrected.

"Ah yes! Cause according to Hermione-"

"We don't have any!" They chimed together.

"And with that I am leaving before I catch the crazy… buh bye!" Xander waved before he vanished.

Replicating the map in a larger size was a fairly simple task for Sirius and Remus. Localised versions of the maps were made for the heads of each house so they could keep a closer eye on their students common rooms.

Giving the map the ability to determine whether a person was authorised to be in the castle was down to Godric. His ability to work with magical signatures is what had helped him develop the sorting hat that was his horcrux. The hat was also the source of updating the admissions book that showed the names of the new students and their addresses.

Within the day they had managed to create a map that would alert them if they had an intruder. Hermione had vanished into her and Luna's room for the remainder of the week claiming she had a theory she wanted to test.

This left the three official Champions to practice their animagus meditations on their own.

Unfortunately for Xander, a certain beetle had been listening in and now knew she had just lost her greatest source of information. She would have to stick to Hogsmede and fiction… well, pure fiction at least.

*Chapter 29*: Chapter 29  
"Right, we've got about six weeks till the next task." Xander informed the Champions as they assembled in the classroom set aside for their use. "The Golden Egg you retrieved during the last task holds a clue as to what needs to be done for the next task.

"By mutual agreement of myself, Igor and Olympia you will automatically earn five out of ten for the second task if you can solve the clue. Harry of course will get point five." Xander grinned.

"If you haven't solved the clue by a week before the task we will tell you the clue and the solution but you won't be able to score more than five out of ten in total. Is that clear?"

There were several nods.

"We can't help you but you can get help from your fellow students. So good luck." With that Xander left them too it.

"Are we allowed to help each other?" Cedric asked with a frown.

"He didn't specifically say we couldn't, so we can." Harry shrugged in a relaxed manner as he sat back.

"You don't seem very vorried, Harry." Viktor observed.

Harry grinned and sat forward. "I don't need to solve the clue because they will tell us a week before. Regardless of how well I do, I will still walk away with only one point. Even if I fail."

"But the rest of us are in this to compete." Cedric nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, but I also might get Dad to tell me earlier. I am supposed to be part of the safety measures so I would prefer to have more time to plan." Harry said with a small scowl.

The room was suddenly filled with a horrendous screeching noise that felt like their brains would soon start dribbling out of their ears.

And then suddenly it stopped.

The three young men turned and glared at sheepish young vela. "Sorry, I was curious." She said with an apologetic smile.

"So… banshee?" Cedric queried.

"No, if it vas a banshee ve would be unconscious." Viktor frowned.

"I think I can help you solve the clue if you want." Harry grinned. "I recognise it, let me know if you want my help." With that Harry went off to test his theory.

Over the following week the three official Champions sequestered themselves in the Hogwarts library. They had been provided with unfettered access to all areas including the Restricted Section.

The two foreign Champions soon realised that Hogwarts did not have all the books they had at their schools and Hogwarts had books that they did not have.

"The politicians say this is about co-operation. Perhaps ve should say to our heads that we combine the three libraries and then duplicate them so all students can have access." Viktor proposed.

And so they proceeded to round up the heads including Minerva and Joyce, with help from Harry.

"Sounds like a good deal to me. Everyone gets to increase their libraries." Xander shrugged.

As it was Viktor's idea, he had presented it. He was visibly relieved that he hadn't immediately been shot down.

"But has too many inherent dangers to be successfully implemented." Minerva countered.

"'Ow do you mean?" Olympe asked.

"I would assume that as Durmstrang teaches Fiendfyre, you have books on it as well?" She asked of Igor.

"Of course."

"Those books would not be suitable in our library as our students do not have the same training and temperament that yours do."

"That's what the Restricted Section is for, Min." Xander pointed out. "Any book which we think requires a certain level of responsibility is either held in the Restricted Section or a staff library. Any student who wishes to access it can ask for it, and if necessary we can supervise them."

"That is how ve do it at Durmstrang." Igor agreed.

"I suppose. I am still wary of the idea. I have no objection to us sharing out our library, but I would like us to be extra careful about what we make available to our Hogwarts students. Especially with the unrest and recent war."

"We can share the libraries and see to it that any book we deem unsuitable for general consumption is held in the Restricted Section or a new Head's library stored in the Head's office." Joyce offered.

"Good, I want all the books in the Restricted Section moved to the new library. The amount of times a student has used it without permission is high." Xander scowled.

"It can't be that bad." Minerva argued.

"Yeah? Ask Mr. Innocent over there how many times he has taken a book from the Restricted Section." He said pointing at Harry who was doing a pretty poor job of looking genuinely innocent but would easily land a career in any American sitcom.

"Harry?" Minerva asked with narrowed eyes.

"It was for a good cause!" Harry whined.

"And what, pray tell, were these 'good causes'?" She asked in clipped tones.

"Nicholas Flamel and the Philospher's Stone was the first time." Harry shrugged.

"Why would you need to look in the Restricted Section for that?" Minerva asked in confusion.

"Because Hermione had already checked the rest of the library and couldn't find it."

"And the information was in the Restricted Section?" She asked sceptically.

"Erm… no. See, she couldn't find it because she had already checked the book out." Harry explained sheepishly.

Joyce just chuckled. "Of course she had."

"And the other times?" Xander prompted.

"Actually, that was the only time we snuck in. The only other time was the Polyjuice incident. But Lockhart gave us a permission slip." Harry explained hastily.

"Polyjuice incident?" Igor asked with an amused look.

"We swore never to speak of it." Xander said solemnly. "Hermione can be… creative." He grimaced as Minerva, Joyce and Harry did so in sympathy.

"Now I am very… interested." Viktor smirked.

"You want to be the one to annoy our animagus teacher?" Cedric asked pointedly.

"Ah… I withdraw my comment." He said with an incline of his head. Fleur just giggled at their antics. She had been told the story and Hermione's retaliation to the teasing. It was true that it was harsh, but the boys where such sissies.

"I believe that Viktor's proposal is approved?" Fleur queried.

"Yes, it will take time though." Minerva stated as she received nods from her colleagues. "I assume this came about due to your preparations for the second task?"

"Yes Professor." Cedric confirmed. "Viktor was looking for a book he used at his home school and couldn't find a copy in our library. I believe Madam Pince was… a bit embarrassed."

Minerva rolled her eyes as Joyce chuckled. "She is rather passionate about her work."

"She's also too over-protective of the books!" Harry moaned. "Every time you check one out she looks at you like you stole her baby."

Harry became increasingly worried about Hermione as she tended to shut herself away and work on the project she had going. Emma put a stop to that when Hermione didn't show up for dinner one week when she had come over to join Dan after his First Aid class. Harry, Luna and Neville were given strict instructions to drag Hermione out of her room if she was missing meals.

Joyce decided to forbid them all from working in their rooms and created a study room which could be partitioned for each of them. She would be able to prevent Hermione from entering if she went overboard. The same worked for Harry who had also taken to hiding in his room and working on something.

There was some worry that Harry and Hermione had managed to bypass the alarms on sexual activity as they were both missing at the same time and Harry's door was locked.

Much to Xander and Sirius' disappointment, they had not managed to crack the thousand year old wards for a bit of nookie but were simply both engrossed in their own projects.

By the beginning of the first week of February both Harry and Hermione burst from their separate partitioned study areas with looks of triumph.

"I DID IT!" They shouted simultaneously.

The current occupants of the room they made their announcement to were Xander, Fleur, Nym and Neville. Neville looked like he was very relieved for the interruption.

Xander looked between the two teens as if trying to decide who to go first. So he pulled out a coin. "Nev, assign a side to Hermione."

"Heads." The boy shrugged.

"Heads it is! Hermione the floor is yours, Harry, take a seat."

Harry just rolled his eyes and slumped down.

Hermione floundered for a second as she suddenly realised she was the centre of attention.

"Wait, I think mine would be better if the people who worked on the latest map were here." She said sheepishly.

"Harry?" Xander asked turning to his son.

"And I just sat down." Harry grumbled as he levered himself out of his chair. "Ok, so we were watching Star Wars and they had all these lasers and blasters. I was watching the other champions practice and I noticed that all their spells had different colour lights. So-"

"You didn't!" Xander exclaimed excitedly.

Harry froze for a second. "Possibly… what do you think I did… or didn't?"

"You… actually I'm not sure… it sounds cool though… carry on and ignore me." Xander said as sat back shamefaced as the other giggled.

Harry just rolled his eyes. "I was thinking about trying to make a blaster, but to be honest, our spells are sometimes better. But there is one thing I can't do with a spell. Dad, can you conjure a nice slab of metal?"

Xander waved a hand and a square meter slab of metal appeared that was about two inches thick.

Harry took a step forward and withdrew his wand, he pointed it at the metal and then paused. He looked up and straight at Xander.

"You might not want to sit there." He advised.

Xander's eyes widened and he quickly hustled his girlfriends out of the way.

Harry resumed his position and suddenly there was a red beam of light from the tip of his wand to the surface of the metal. Harry concentrated a bit more and smoke started to rise. Hermione and Xander crowded closer to get a better view.

Harry's red beam was clearly cutting straight through the metal.

"Harry, you are a true genius… and my absolute hero." Xander said reverently as Harry stopped his laser. "All you need to do is come up with a-"

Xander was stopped cold by the sight of Harry standing there with a metal cylinder in his hand and a huge dopey grin on his face.

"Harry…" Xander said with the utmost reverence. "If you do what I think you are about to do… I may just have to offer the last twinkie out of every pack to you."

Slowly a beam of red light extended out of the tip of the cylinder.

Xander fell to his knees.

"All hail the almighty Potter!" He cried theatrically as he bowed down over and over again.

"There was something very… sexual about that." Nym commented, causing the young people in the room to blush.

"NYM!" Xander cried in horror. "How can you sully a moment such as this with crude and profane comments? This is a moment that will go down in history!"

"Only if you are a muggle raised teenage boy." She sniffed in disdain.

"Really? Then why does Hermione look like she wants to drag Harry to the nearest broom closet?" He countered.

Sure enough, Hermione had a look of pure worship on her face. It was making Harry a little uncomfortable.

"Oi! Girlie!" Nym said loudly as she gave Hermione a light punch on her shoulder.

"Huh? Wha?" She asked intelligently.

"You're giving us feminine types a bad name!" She said in a rather gruff voice.

"Oh, no… I mean… Harry has to be part of my presentation. But I need to borrow him to fine tune it and rework some stuff." She babbled as she grabbed Harry and dragged him into the study room, slamming the door shut behind them.

Xander looked up and examined the ceiling for a few moments. "One day they will do that exact move and all the alarms in the castle will go off. I'll be a very happy man that day." He said wistfully.

"Not sure the same could be said of Dan and Emma." Nym retorted. "Wasn't the light sabre enough to make you happy?"

"I just wish he had told us how he did it before he got dragged off."

Harry later explained to Xander how to create his own light sabre or laser.

"First comes the laser." Harry stated. "I knew I could blind people with a wandless Lumos, but more importantly, that I could create light. So I did some research on what makes a laser. I then managed to recreate a laser beam.

"Making a Light sabre was a little harder." At this point Harry made a Light Sabre blade extend from his wand.

"I had to make a tiny shield to sit on the top of the wand and move up to the require length. Plus I conjure a metal handle around the whole wand so it doesn't break when you swing at something."

"You can't do it with out a wand?" Xander asked with a hint of distress.

Harry shook his with a sympathetic look. "Like a Light Sabre needs a crystal for a focus, we need the wand for the same reason."

"Dammit." Xander sighed. "Wait, how do you know about the crystals?"

Harry just stood there shuffling in embarrassment.

"Harry." Xander said sternly as he tried to stifle a smile.

"Fine! I bought some books."

Xander just laughed. "My son the Star Wars fan. Beautiful! Just let me know if you go dressed as a character for Halloween. I'll dress in kind."

"Ha! For laughing at me, you can be R2-D2 to my C-3PO, and I will squeeze you into a transfigured dustbin!"

A few days later and Hermione was ready for her presentation.

"When we finished the new Marauder's Map, I was worried that there were a few things we needed to take into account.

"First, once an intruder is found on the grounds, how are they captured or apprehended?

"Second, how do we deal with the people Xander is allowing to be taught his method of teleportation?"

There were a few scowls sent Xander's way at this.

"First I wanted to work on eliminating intruders that get into the castle. Unfortunately, at the moment I could only make a lethal system that would create lasers to attack intruders based on Harry's work.

"I'm hoping that you can figure out a way of re-directing people or transporting them to holding cells."

"Erm… I hate to point this out, but I think we overlooked someone who should have been part of your group." Harry interjected. "Bill? He's a Curse Breaker, he must know a fair amount about making wards in order to break them."

Everyone just stared at Harry for a good few seconds, making him very uncomfortable.

"DAMMIT!" Xander exclaimed. "Right, after this I'll go grab him. Carry on Hermione."

Hermione just nodded.

"Ok, so the second issue was keeping out or holding in people who can teleport like Xander and Harry.

"I went through various failed avenues before I decided to try an experiment based on something that happened on Xander's first morning after he arrived in the castle years ago."

Xander was getting a bit nervous, wondering about what he might have accidentally done now… or then.

"He helped show me with Joyce that magic only affects unshielded electronics. So, if the electricity was powerful enough, would it be able to over power the magic.

"This is where a lot is still theoretical.

"What would happen if someone tried to teleport through a electrified fence or field?"

Xander turned to Harry with a solemn look on his face. "My son, you have found your perfect woman. You make the sci-fi weapons, she makes the sci-fi shields."

Hermione just rolled her eyes as Harry blushed. The others looked on in confusion and bewilderment.

"Yes, well, we still need to find a way to safely test it." She said with a hint of annoyance directed at Xander.

They all sat there for a few minutes pondering the problem of how to safely test Hermione's shield idea.

Eventually Harry sighed and spoke up. "I think this might be a question for Bill and the goblins. They must have a safe method for testing wards, if that fails, can't we try the old spoon through a chair method?"

"'Spoon through a chair'?" Sirius queried.

"When Dad first came up with the phasing thing the question was 'what would happen to photographs hanging on a wall or cutlery on a table if you phased through them?' Would they phase through the hangings or table, or would they simply stay put?

"So we put a spoon on a chair and Dad phased through the chair, the spoon was unaffected."

"For the record, Harry put the spoon on the chair. That whole test was his idea, and it was a great one and a good place to start, after all, thanks to Neville we can teleport objects to a place without having to accompany them." Xander said proudly.

After a quick tutorial on how to create a laser by Harry, he and Xander left the experts to do their stuff. It was only a day later that they had successfully proved Hermione's theory of electric fields and fences preventing magic. They still had to figure out how to implement that on the castle or homes. This task was assigned to Hermione whilst the others focused on redirection wards.

Xander was over the moon later that night when Harry and Hermione presented him with his own lightsaber.

"How?" He asked as gazed lovingly at the green hued blade of light.

"Hermione needed a way to make the lasers without needing a wizard or wand. She did it through a light creating rune. That metal cylinder has the necessary runes etched into it." Harry explained.

Xander switched his brand new lightsaber off and grabbed the pair into a hug. "You guys are the absolute best!"

Hermione was sure Xander was crying… he was such a baby.

A week before the second task, Xander called the Champions together.

"So, I know Harry figured out the clue, how did the rest of you do?"

The three proper Champions shared a look of uncertainty.

"Viktor was able to recognise it for Mermish, but we don't think we fully understand the message." Cedric explained.

"Any particular part?" Xander asked.

"What is the thing that will be 'sorely missed'? None of us wants to even entertain the thought that a loved one will be down there." He said a little desperately.

At this point they were interrupted by two low growls as neither Xander nor Harry looked very pleased.

"I promise you that we did fight this one tooth and nail, but the something sorely missed is going to be a person you know."

Fleur gasped in shock. "Who?"

"Gabrielle, Luna, Hermione and Cho." Harry said with a slow smile.

"What?" Cedric asked suspicious of Harry's expressions.

"What you don't know can't hurt the ones we love. I can promise that they will come to absolutely no harm." Xander grinned.

"We can't tell you more otherwise you could be accused of being cheats or disqualified. Just… trust us on this. By the time you exit the lake you will be holding your loved ones in your arms." Harry assured them.

"Vhy Luna?" Viktor asked curiously.

"Because you live a very solitary life and they can't trick your parents into doing it so they picked your Yule Ball date." Xander rolled his eyes.

"Trick? So they know they are wrong?" Fleur scowled.

"Trick is the word I used, they were smarter than that." Xander admitted. "All you need to do is get to the 'hostages'" he said with air-quotes, "and return them to the shore. The Mer-People will be guarding them and keeping them safe until you get there.

"If Harry gets there before anyone else, he will stay until you have successfully retrieved your 'hostage' or he will return to the surface with all of them.

"Questions?"

"Why didn't they choose you or Nym for my hostage?" Fleur asked.

"Because they think a child will be more exciting." He scoffed. "I could have vetoed it, but it was safer this way. They would have likely kidnapped someone else. We currently have perfect control over their safety."

"Can we teleport?" Cedric asked.

"No, that is the only thing they have said you can't do."

"Please remember that exact sentence Dad just used. It might help you come up with a plan." Harry added anxiously.

It was freezing. Warming charms had been cast over the entirety of the spectator stands which surrounded a large area of the lake shore. Seating capacity had been increased as more people wanted to see it despite the tragedy of the first task.

A small dock was constructed on which stood the Champions and Xander, above the lake hovered two large screens and Sirius and Sal, both assigned to watch Viktor and Cedric respectively. Xander would be watching Fleur.

Harry was sequestered in a triangle formed by the other champions who were attempting to shield Harry from view and lessen his stress. Harry was in turn, pushing himself gradually out of the triangle as he tried to overcome his fears.

They were dressed in their wetsuits covered in bathrobes, which Xander had conjured for them after it became obvious that Fleur was… cold.

Ludo Bagman's voice boomed out: "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the second task of the Tri-wizard Tournament!"

"How can it be the 'tri-wizard' tournament when there are four champions?" Cedric asked.

"Only three tasks." Viktor grunted causing the others to snicker.

So did the rest of the crowd as the Champion's hadn't realised that the dock was charmed to relay what was said there to the crowd.

"Yes, erm… the… task… where was I?" Ludo stumbled as lost his place in the champions comments.

"Shut up and sit down Bagman." Xander snapped.

"The task is simple, in theory." Xander added with a mutter. "The Champions are to traverse the lake and 'rescue' their 'hostage' from the mer-village. They then need to bring the hostage back to shore.

Xander then pointed to the left screen above the lake. "On the left, we have a map of the lake and it's inhabitants. On it we can track the progress of the Champions towards the clearly marked hostages.

"On the right, courtesy of our French guests, we have a team of underwater camera experts who have littered the lake with camera's so we can watch their progress.

"All safety precautions have been taken, but please pay attention to the ushers in the event of an emergency."

Said ushers were volunteer werewolves, tonight was a full moon, but thanks to Xander they were neither tired nor depressed.

"Now, without further ado-" And Xander blew his whistle causing the Champions to glare at him and cries of pain to echo through the stands.

"Amplified sound." Harry growled.

"Oh yeah, anyway, off you go." Xander said sheepishly.

Three of the Champions shed their robes and dived into the icy water, Harry just stood there.

"Sporting chance?" Xander asked his son.

"Nope, just wanted to see if they paid attention to what they've been taught." Harry shrugged.

"And…?"

"They need better training. You might need to teach them some stuff or stand in and watch as the rest of us teach."

"They seem to be doing ok." Xander frowned.

"They could be at the hostages by now!"

"No teleporting, remember?" Xander said pointedly.

Harry sighed and shrugged off his robe, he floated a foot off the ground and waved sarcastically at Xander before zooming across the water.

"Oh, right. My bad." Xander winced. There was laughter through the crowds and Xander remembered that they could hear what was said.

Harry was once again looking for the most boring route to the end of this task. Plus he had to stick around by the hostages to make sure everything went smoothly. So rather than traverse the icy waters of the lake, he flew to where he knew the mer-village and hostages were.

When Xander had arrived in this world, Harry had had his first experience with bathing. Previously he used showers, or in the case of the Dursleys, a cereal bowl of water.

Harry knew what a bath was, but had only ever seen Dudley use it when they were small. Harry spent some wonderful evenings relaxing in the bath after Xander arrived and playing with his magic. This included making the water do all sorts of wonderful things.

This was why Harry was able to sink into the lake and have the water move back from him so he landed on the dry lake bed where he could see the hostages in front of him and the mer-people laughing at his method, some of the younger mer-children would come up and poke their hands into Harry's area where he would get into playful slap fights whilst waiting for the other Champions to arrive.

The hostages were lying on the bottom of the lake with their arms crossed over their chests and their eyes wide open and staring forward sightlessly.

Cedric decided to make full use of the Bubble Head charm. It was within his range of spells and allowed him to cast spells. Unlike the Gillyweed that Xander and Harry used which required silent casting.

Having been told in advance that Cho would be his hostage, he had, with her permission, placed a tracking charm on her. Only the charm said she was back on shore but the mer-village was in the opposite direction.

He seemed to have screwed up the charm. Cho would never let him live this down, pitfalls of dating a Ravenclaw. Of course, she had helped, but she was only a fifth year, so she had an excuse.

Cedric decided to simply swim for the centre of the lake. He had a back up plan in the form of the Point Me spell.

Viktor was a fair hand at self-transfiguration. He had transfigured half of his body into a shark.

Said half was his upper half which left him incapable of performing magic. But at least he could breathe and track under water which is what he needed. He wasted no time in heading towards the mer-village.

Fleur, like Cedric, had gone with the Bubble Head charm. It was relatively simple for her age group and allowed the use of magic.

As for tracking, the previous week Sal had given them tours of the mer-village with gillyweed, he allowed them to explore the lake as well. Gabrielle had always loved her big sister and demanded that she read her fairytales before bed. Using that as her inspiration, she had left several trails of 'breadcrumbs' in the form of white pebbles.

She was making good progress, the lack of streamlining on the bubble made it difficult to maintain any speed and also forced the swimmer to work harder.

As Fleur reached a veritable forest of vegetation a small creature darted out and grabbed her leg tightly. Recognising it as a grindylow, she reached down and broke it's fingers thus freeing herself. She swam forwards less than a meter when another burst out and grabbed the other leg. By the time she reached down to break it's fingers a third had attached to the previous leg and more were clearly approaching.

Fleur quickly drew her wand and cast a banishing charm at the incoming grindylow as she ignored the biting and griping on her legs. This gave her some space to free her legs. But the grindylow were too fast and they swarmed her, quickly grabbing her limbs and her head, some even trying to grab her torso. All of them biting at her and squeezing tighter and cutting off the blood flow.

Fleur screamed as her magic failed and the bubble burst, this only allowed more grindylow to grab her.

Fleur felt her consciousness slip away as she sank deeper into the lake.

There was a sudden feeling of lightness and then she was gasping in air as she felt warm hands on her limbs, she could hear sounds of breaking and feel the grindylow fall away.

When she was finally free she felt warm strong arms lift her up and then the feel of air rushing past.

She opened her eyes to find herself safely in the arms of Xander as the lake fell away behind her. He didn't say a word as they landed on the shore of the lake.

There were shouts and curses thrown over them and Fleur realised that the grindylow were actually leaping out of the water at them.

Xander waved a hand and conjured a metal wall. Soon all that was heard was the sound of grindylow hitting the wall over and over again.

As the excitement bled off Fleur she suddenly remembered the whole point of the task.

"Gabrielle!" She screamed.

"Easy!" Xander soothed as he held her tighter. "Remember what I told all of you, I wouldn't let any harm come to the hostages, besides, Harry is down there waiting for everyone to come, if the time runs out he will bring back the remaining hostages."

"Actually, I had him bring them all back now." Sal informed them as he flew over from the lake. "We have no idea what is happening with the grindylow and we can't risk the same thing happening to the others. The warriors of the mer-village are escorting them now." He said indicating the two screens over the lake.

They could see Harry, Cedric and Viktor calmly walking along the lakebed as the water parted in front of them and the hostages floated behind in their wake.

"Oh god, he's gone theatrical again, worse than Albus Bloody Dumbledore!" Xander moaned.

"It's your fault for making us watch that Heston Marathon!" Nym admonished as she came up and hugged them both. "I thought we almost lost you." She said as she held Fleur tightly.

"We were foolish to worry, Xander was there after all." Fleur whispered back.

Eventually, Harry approached as the other two Champions headed off to the medical tent for evaluation, he left the hostages lying nearby on conjured beds.

"Fleur, I would just like to thank you for taking my place for life threatening situations today." Harry grinned.

"Harry!" Nym said in horror.

"Oh no! You don't get to raise a fuss when I make jokes about you lot facing death and danger. Not after all the jokes you made about me!" Harry scowled.

Nym had the grace to look apologetic.

"If we don't laugh we cry, right Harry?" Xander smiled at his son.

"And if we don't cry, we die."

"Morbid… but true." Xander admitted.

"Right. Now, why don't we call in the real girls so Fleur knows Gabrielle is fine."

"Real girls?" Fleur asked.

"I did say your loved ones would never be in any danger." Xander reminded her as the four girls were teleported in by Hermione and Luna.

Fleur's head snapped back and forth between the four motionless bodies lying on the shore and the little girl that looked like her sister running towards her.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS DECEPTION?" Crouch boomed as he stormed over.

"What's the big deal? Hostages were needed, hostages were provided." Xander shrugged, not at all phased by Crouch's tantrum.

"The hostages were supposed to be something they would 'sorely miss'!"

"They also weren't supposed to get them back after the hour… but we both know that wasn't going to happen… or are you saying you were going to let the youngest daughter of a foreign official die?"

"I-That-IRRELEVANT!" Crouch screamed.

"Well, perhaps you would like to explain to the man behind you why you were conspiring to kidnap and kill one of his colleagues daughters."

Crouch spun around to find himself face to face with the French Minister of Magic and his Deputy, Alain Delacour. And behind them, several imposing men in suits.

"I believe we 'ave much to discuss, Monsieur Crouch." The Minister snarled.

As the Frenchmen walked Crouch off, Fleur turned to Xander as she held her sister in her arms. "If this is Gabrielle, who are they?" She asked indicating the four motionless bodies.

"Four French female Aurors who volunteered to take Polyjuice and be petrified by Slinky. The petrification was Harry's idea. They are pretty safe in that state."

"But they will be stuck like that till July when Mandrakes mature." She argued.

"Haven't we told you about Harry's adventures in his second year?" Nym asked with a grin. "Might as well wake 'em up Harry."

"Shouldn't we deal with the grindylow first?" Harry asked, they listened for a second to the sound of the grindylow still trying to get to Fleur.

"Wake the Aurors first." Nym ordered.

Harry sighed. "Fine, but you can chaperone, I don't wanna get slapped!"

"Just watch." Xander said seeing Fleur about to ask.

Fleur saw Harry march over to the polyjuiced and petrified Aurors and kneel down by the first and place his hand on the chest of the one looking like Cho. Harry's hand glowed and the glow spread through the girl who suddenly gasped and sat up.

As Harry moved on to the next girl the first one began to morph as the Polyjuice wore off.

"I can understand Harry being able to do the things he does… mainly by not trying to understand, but how did he get the Polyjuice to wear off?" Fleur asked.

"We didn't actually petrify them until the Polyjuice started to wear off, that way they wouldn't have to walk around in front of everyone in someone else's body." Xander explained.

"What about the grindylow?" Hermione asked. By this point the Heads of School's had all gathered, including Sal, Sirius and Rick. Nym and Harry had also returned.

"It could be scent based, how about a full body bubble?" Sirius suggested.

"Allow me." Minerva offered as she drew her wand and formed a large bubble around Xander, Fleur and Nym.

They stood for over a minute just to make sure, but the grindylow were still coming.

"Next." Sirius sighed.

"What if someone put a charm on Fleur that attracts them?" Hermione suggested.

There was a few moments as they considered this before they all turned to Remus, who just chuckled.

"I suppose it's possible, Fillius would be able to tell us more."

"How about we just try a finite?" Harry shrugged.

"Quick and simple. I got this one." Sal said as he stepped forward.

"Finite Incantartum"

There was a slight drop in the hitting of the wall before it picked up again.

"We appear to be on the right track." Remus mused.

"Harry, wandless and non-verbal." Xander instructed.

Harry nodded and stepped forward, he focused and waved his hand at Fleur who was still seated in Xander's lap with Nym holding her. Gabrielle had gone off with her mother when Crouch was dragged away by the French Minister.

"Erm… oops!" Harry exclaimed as he darted forward and touched Nym's shoulder making her invisible, something else that Neville and Xander had cooked up to compensate for not having a cloak like Harry.

"Define 'oops'." Nym's disembodied voice growled.

"I accidentally cancelled your metamorph… erm… state."

"Thank you very much, Harry." She snapped sarcastically.

"On the bright side, the grindylow have stopped." Hermione offered.

Godric peered behind the metal slab. "Yes, the last is just re-entering the water."

Xander dispersed the metal wall protecting them. "Why does everything seem different?" He asked in confusion.

"Harry appears to have cancelled your wolf eyes as well, your patch is back." Nym explained.

Xander's hand shot to his face, he glanced at Fleur before vanishing causing her to squawk in shock as she fell back without Xander to support her.

"Is something wrong?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"No." Joyce assured them. "Just some… insecurities that have come to light that Xander didn't realise he had." She turned to Nym and Fleur. "Girls, come with me and I'll explain things."

"Mum, the tournament?" Sal interjected.

The little group of friends and family suddenly looked up and realised that everything they did and said was heard by the attending spectators.

"Crap!" Harry vanished.

"Crouch can sort this mess out. Go find him and make him deal with it." Joyce ordered as she popped out taking Fleur and Nym with her.

Xander was sat in the quickly darkening room of their home by the Grangers. It was the only place he was used to not having two eyes. He couldn't exactly walk out into the non-magical world with a pair of wolf eyes. Nym, Harry or Hermione usually had to remind him to revert. There was even a sign on the back of the front door that read: 'Are you wearing the right eyes?'

The home was currently empty as the Weasley family had moved back to the Burrow, Dan and Emma often entered the house to do some light cleaning. Dobby would pop over and turn the lights on and off to give the impression of being lived in.

But Xander was alone in the darkening living room just trying to wrap his head around the burning question of the day. Why had he fled from the school when he realised his wolf eyes were gone.

Xander struggled to be honest with himself, he had fled from Fleur so she couldn't see his eye patch.

He could handle Nym and the others as they knew him before he attained his werewolf form. When he and Nym slept at night they both reverted to their natural forms, they were comfortable with each other and more often than not would have sex in their natural forms.

So why was he afraid of Fleur seeing him like that.

Not afraid, ashamed.

He felt shame when Fleur had tried to touch his face.

"There you are!"

Xander jumped in surprise at the sound of Nym's voice from behind him.

"God, Nym. You almost killed me." Xander muttered as he sank back into his chair.

"Pfft, you've been through worse." She said dismissively. "Are you done sulking and being broody?"

Xander looked at her with narrowed eyes. "You've been talking to Joyce about Angel, haven't you."

"Well, she simply had a chat with us and told us to 'go find him and stop pulling an Angel'." She said with a grin.

"Joyce told us what happened to your eye." Fleur said softly.

Xander shifted uncomfortably, but Nym simply drew her wand and enlarged the seat around him so she and Fleur could sit on either side.

"Joyce felt it was important for us to know that you lost it trying to save a girl from an evil man. Not to mention the callous and horrific way it was destroyed." Nym spat.

"Why did you leave?" Fleur asked maintaining her soft voice.

Xander began to fidget again and sat forward putting his face in his palms. "I… I was… ashamed."

"Of… me?" She asked with hurt in her face and voice.

"No!" Xander was quick to assure her. "I… I didn't want you to see me… like this." Xander took a deep breath and let his wolf eyes fade away.

"Xander, show us what's under the patch." Nym said softly as she let her own base form appear.

"But it's disgusting! There's nothing there, just a void." Xander said with panic.

"Then I will show you my horrible form first." Fleur said as she stood up and moved to stand in front of them.

Nym and Xander frowned, not sure what Fleur could possibly show them. Then Fleur started to glow her mouth began to protrude and harden forming a beak, there was a tearing sound as scaled dragon like wings burst from her shoulder blades through her clothes, standing before them was a Veela in battle form.

With no lips, Fleur could only make subtle cooing noises, but her eyes told of her shame and fear of rejection.

Xander instantly stood up and pulled her into a hug kissing her beak before he did so. Nym joined them and did the same.

Xander took a step back out of Fleur's arms and raised a shaking hand to remove his eye patch.

Both girls gasped at the sight, Fleur's form returning to normal, it was truly horrid, a void only partially concealed by a scarred and drooping eyelid. It explained why his eye patch contained sterilised patches on the inside.

They reached forward and pulled him towards them and into a tight hug.

They stayed that way for several minutes before they collapsed into the enlarged chair.

"You should bring back your wolf eyes, Xan. We know you are uncomfortable like this." Nym assured him.

Xander sighed in relief as his vision gained new depths. A grin split across his face. "Plus I can now see you both at once."

They gave him an indulgent smile, but neither was going to let the opportunity for honest revelations pass.

"Xander, why have you never had a glass eye?" Fleur asked. Many glass eyes in the magical world could be enchanted to allow the functionality of the missing eye to be restored, or even enhanced, as with Moody.

But Xander shook his head vigorously. "No, can't stand someone trying to touch my face, let alone my… socket."

"Ok, ok." Nym said soothingly as Xander became agitated. "Your nightmares, most of them are about when this happened, aren't they?"

Xander closed his eyes exhaled deeply. "Yeah, sometimes the girl changes, or worse, Caleb becomes someone I love."

Both girls were shocked at the implication, that at some point, Xander had dreamt that they had been the ones to destroy Xander's eye.

"Xander, I need to go see my father today." Fleur said firmly. "Nym will explain what happened after you left." With that she vanished.

*Chapter 30*: Chapter 30  
WARNING: This chapter contains descriptions of torture and mutilation.

A/N: There is a reason this story is marked 'M', this chapter is the reason. However, I want to assure those of you that have made it this far that this chapter will not be setting the tone for the rest of the story, you should think of it as a stepping stone for Harry to do greater things... and occasionally crazier things.

Due to the grindylow incident each Champion (except Harry) was graded on their method of traversing the lake and finding the hostages.

Cedric and Fleur were each awarded points for their use of the Bubble Head charm, Fleur achieved a higher mark for her method of tracking as she had provided herself with multiple trails of pebbles which gave her a backup plan. Cedric had no back up plan.

Viktor was awarded top points for his use of self-transfiguration and the choice of fish. He did lose points for removing his ability to cast spells or access his hands.

Amelia Bones was officially ordered by Fudge to investigate who placed the charm on Fleur Delacour. Fudge needed to do all he could to improve his standing with the international community, this would be a good step, as far as he was concerned Fleur was nothing more than a creature who should be destroyed for trying to bring her perverted and deviant sexual tendencies to his glorious country, she had no rights as a Veela by British Wizarding Law, but her status as daughter of the Deputy Minister for Magic of France gave her diplomatic protection. In his mind it was disgusting, he felt dirty having to help her.

The sooner the tournament was over the sooner her filth would be removed from his land. It was high time to put the other creatures in their place, having goblins, elves and werewolves roaming all over the place was disgusting, it needed to be stopped.

Harry spent several weeks after the tournament trying to devise a way to 'see' magic. Mad-Eye could see through invisibility cloaks with his fake eye, so he should be able to see it himself. That was what made him think he could 'see' magic. He was fairly certain he had done it before, when he had transported the entire Hogwarts Express at the beginning of the third year. He had pulled magic into himself to heal himself after the Dementor attack, and the world had looked very different.

Replicating the same scenario was easy enough, but it was another matter to actually interpret what he saw. Harry brought the twins in to help him catalogue various things and to experiment. For all their jokes and foolhardiness, they were excellent researchers. Harry would never say it out loud, but they were better than Hermione.

Although they made significant progress in creating a manual using the surrounding magic in the castle, they soon realised that it would be a perpetual task as new magic was discovered and analysed.

For some reason no one else was able to view magic like Harry. Much to Hermione's dismay.

Fudge was getting ready to put his plans in motion. With any luck, by September 1st, Hogwarts would be on it's way to being back under Ministry control. He couldn't force anything in regards to the land and property, but the school itself was the responsibility of the Ministry and that gave him all the leverage he needed.

He just needed to pass a few laws through the Wizengamot and he would be set to go.

His next major plan was to get control of the Goblins. If that insolent brat, Hogwarts could do it then anyone could. He needed to find the best fighter that was truly loyal to him. Have him beat Hogwarts and then have the winner lose to him. He would then control the banks and the Goblin armies.

Whilst that was going on, he would make it nearly impossible for the werewolves to exist in Britain. Fudge had dreams of making it illegal to hire a werewolf, for them to own property, and even… making it legal to hunt and kill werewolves… at anytime, even in human form.

By the time Fudge was finished, Britain would be pure and under his control. Just like it was supposed to be.

As time passed, so did lessons and the Champions got better at the various magics they were being taught. They also managed to achieve their animagus forms. They soon discovered that they were not able to attain magical forms.

Viktor's form was a black stallion, as soon as the various females discovered this they demanded to see it and Harry was soon very pleased as he was no longer the centre of attention in the castle.

Cedric became a lion. This caused him much confusion as he didn't know whether to be pleased at being such a majestic animal or upset at being the knew Gryffindor mascot.

Fleur became one with her avian side, she achieved the form of an osprey. Hermione and Joyce discussed for some time whether this was influenced by her Veela's avian nature or it was simply her personal animagus form.

Hermione had put forth the proposal that the three Champions should try again but with Xander brewing the potion and that Xander, Hermione, Harry and Neville should try with Minerva brewing the potion, just to see if they could attain an additional form.

The lights and sirens were blaring again.

Xander still hadn't figured out how the other Head's of Houses had managed to foist this duty onto him. He was supposed to be one of the Head's after all. At least it wasn't late at night. It was barely dinner time.

Xander stepped out of the apartment.

"Where to Jerry?" He asked the guardian suit of armour.

"Second floor." For some reason he seemed amused.

Xander teleported out with a sigh. On arrival he began following the lights and burst into the classroom.

"What the frilly hell?" In front of him was Dan Granger with the four champions. Cedric had his shirt off and Fleur had his hands all over him. "You're having an orgy and you didn't invite me?"

"What are you on about?" Harry asked.

"Somehow you managed to trigger the alarms for the over amorous. I assume you were using Cedric as the dummy?"

"Yeah, but Fleur was using a stethoscope." Harry said indicating the device hanging around his fellow Champions neck.

"Joyce?" Xander called out.

"You rang?" Joyce smirked as she did a purely terrible impression of Lurch.

"Yeah, why would the guys learning how to use a stethoscope cause the alarms to go off?"

Joyce stared intently at the tableaux before her. Then a smirk crept across her face.

"Well… Cedric is topless, Fleur is a female and at least one of them is thinking about performing the same exercise with their girlfriend or boyfriend."

"Judging by the full body blush, we have our culprit." Xander grinned.

"I'm a teenage boy, sue me!" Cedric said with a roll of his eyes as he spouted one of Xander's favourite retorts.

"Joyce, can I assume that the hospital wing doesn't have these alarms?" Dan asked.

"That's right, sometimes Poppy or the healer would request a students aide or take on an apprentice."

"Any chance of you creating a separate room up there for us to work in?"

Joyce just laughed. "Consider it done, it's up there for you now, just let Poppy know."

It was a wonderful spring day. The sun was out, little cotton balls of cloud floated in the sky and a cool wind blew through the trees.

Birds flew, chirping through the air and the children of Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons skipped through the streets of Hogsmede. It was a brilliant spring day in the middle of April.

It was a large group that was made up of Harry, Hermione, Cedric, Cho, Fleur, Viktor and Neville. They spent the morning wandering through the various stores until the girls split off for a specific clothing store that left the boys blushing.

The boys wandered through various shops like Zonko's before heading to the Three Broomsticks where Madam Rosmerta greeted them.

"Good afternoon gentlemen, just the four of you today?" She asked cheerfully.

"Three others will be here in a bit for lunch." Cedric answered.

"Right then, an expanded booth for you all then." She said before leading them away. The boys were soon settled in.

"Here are the menus."

Cedric frowned as there had never been menus before. But before he could query it Harry had taken his and vanished.

Harry struggled to open his eyes. He was groggy and his head was killing him. But he struggled harder as he could hear people talking.

He remembered sitting down in Madam Rosmerta's and then nothing.

Harry managed to open his eyes to find himself in a graveyard, he appeared to be shackled to a large monument type of gravestone. There was a large cauldron in front of him over an open fire, Harry could see the stubs of gravestones that had been callously broken to make room. The sun was still high in the sky so it hadn't been long since he had been kidnapped, hopefully Neville would alert Xander and they would help him out.

On the other side of the cauldron was a man a bit older than Xander, he was wiry with dark hair and a grin that spoke of dark enjoyment. He carried a bundle that looked like it might be a baby, Harry hoped it wasn't.

"Do it now!" Came a high-pitched voice that sounded far from pleasant. It came from the bundle and Harry had certain proof that it wasn't a baby.

The man emptied the bundle into the cauldron, Harry briefly glimpsed a hideous baby like creature.

The man strode around the cauldron and waved his wand, levitating what looked like a thigh bone and dropping it into the cauldron.

"Bone of the Father, unwillingly given." The man chanted.

The man then pulled out a hideous looking curved knife.

"Flesh of the servant, willingly sacrificed."

Harry watched in horror as the man sliced his own hand off with nary a peep nor wince. The sound of the severed hand splashing into the potion was terrifying.

But then the man strode over and Harry felt like an ice cold hand had gripped his insides. He desperately tried to teleport out or phase through the ground but his magic wasn't helping him. He could feel it, but it was like he was trapped.

The man grinned maliciously at Harry, looking directly into his eyes.

"No! Please, no!" Harry cried.

"Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken."

Harry screamed in agony and despair as the man grasped his right hand and twisted it tightly, snapping the bones easily. He then began to slowly slice through Harry's wrist clearly enjoying himself.

Harry had known pain before. He had felt the Cruciatus, but this wasn't just about pain. This man was removing part of him. The pain was excruciating, Harry tried desperately to remove his mind from the pain but he couldn't.

There was a lightness in his arm and then less stress, Harry couldn't bear to look at what he knew was now nothing more than a bloody stump. He felt pain, weakness, he was shaking uncontrollably.

He saw the man walk away, clearly holding a hand. His hand. The man held the stump of the hand over the cauldron and squeezed, causing the remaining blood in the severed appendage to flow out, when it had been reduced to a drip, he casually tossed it behind him as though it were the core of an apple he had just finished.

"The Dark Lord shall rise again!" The man declared triumphantly.

The cauldron burst into flames and smoke that flared brightly but briefly.

When the smoke cleared and the flames died Harry barely noticed that there was a pale white hairless figure kneeling naked where the cauldron had once stood.

The man who had performed the ritual stepped forward and awkwardly draped a cloak around the figure, his own lack of a hand not aiding him.

"Barty, my wand." The figure ordered with a high pitched and nasally voice.

The man, Barty, reached into his jacket and withdrew a wand and handed it to the pale figure. He then knelt before him and extended his bare fore arm on his uninjured limb.

The figure poked his wand into the forearm and suddenly, there were pops and cracks as figures began to appear around where the cauldron had stood. As each one saw the figure, they dropped to their knees and bowed their heads.

The pale figure began to speak, as though addressing a rally or lecturing. "Welcome my friends. Thirty years it's been, and yet you stand before me as though it were yesterday.

"I confess myself disappointed, not one of you tried to find me." He chided as though they were five year olds caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

The figure began slashing his wand at the figures, removing their masks and hoods.

Through the pain and fatigue of his injury, Harry finally realised that the pale figure was Voldemort. The Dark Lord was back and Harry was surrounded.

Harry ignored the rambling of the insane wizard, he steeled himself and slowly turned his head to see how bad his arm was.

Despair reared sharply in his chest and tears flowed down his cheeks as he saw the devastation that was now the end of his wrist. The cut was ragged and clearly made to remove as much skin and cause as much disfiguration and pain as possible. The bone was splintered with shards hanging off of his torn flesh.

Whoever the man was, he was malicious and pure evil.

But he had given Harry a chance at freedom. His arm was no longer trapped by the shackle.

"See now how I reward those who are faithful to their Lord." Harry heard Voldemort declare.

This was his chance to slip away. He gingerly but with great pain, slipped the stub of his arm through the cuff of the shackles.

Tears flowed stronger as he got a closer look at the bloody mess.

None of his attempts to flee had worked so far. Teleportation, flying, phasing, even trying to contact Xander mentally.

He had the beginnings of a plan forming.

With all his will he pulled his magic into a tight ball around him.

"HEY TOM! WATCH THIS!" Harry screamed hoarsely.

As everyone turned, Harry poured everything into turning himself into a giant Lumos spell. The Death Eaters and Voldemort screamed as they were blinded by the pure white light.

Harry didn't pause as he focused on the only hope he had of regaining his limb.

He shifted to his dragon form.

The Death Eaters couldn't see what was happening, but the events of the First Task gave them all the knowledge they needed to understand what the horrifying roar meant.

Lucius could hear screams rending the air as the dragon began tearing into the Death Eaters.

"My Lord, we must retreat!" Lucius called out.

But no one responded.

"My Lord?"

Lucius knew better than to assume their lord was dead. But there was nothing he could do at the moment, he blindly activated his emergency Portkey and was whisked away.

Harry was angry and in pain. His limb had been replaced by his dragon leg, but he still felt the pain. He just wanted to go home and see Xander, Joyce and Minerva. He wanted his family.

"Harry!"

He knew that voice, it was like heaven to him. It was Xander.

Xander was his saviour, his safety, his father.

The days events and his injuries caught up with him and he shifted to human form and fell to the floor.

"Sweet Merlin!" Minerva cried as she and Xander rushed over to their son.

"FAWKES!" Xander screamed.

The Phoenix burst into the area above them and landed quickly.

Xander didn't say any words, he gently took Harry's stump and held it up for Fawkes to cry on. The bird trilled sadly and tilted his head.

Minerva was cradling Harry's head in her lap and crying silently. Her boy was severely injured and it was clear from the carnage around them that he had undergone immense horrors. As far as she was concerned Harry would not be leaving the castle for the foreseeable future, she would be damned if she was going to let him get hurt anymore.

Sirius and Sal were securing the area with a troop of Goblins and several dragons that the Goblins had teleported in. They had glimpsed the horror of Harry's injuries but knew they had a job to do.

Fawkes could heal the wounds, but he couldn't re-grow the hand. Xander had Fawkes take Harry and Minerva straight to the Hospital wing.

"This was an attack on my son. A prince of the Goblins. I want the rest of the perpetrators found and brought before myself or my son for their punishment!" Xander roared.

"Sirius, go to Bones. I want her here now. This is a Goblin matter, but the Ministry will help us.

"Sal, there will be no one not of our family or Goblins and Dragons to set foot in this area. Anyone tries, imprison them in the Goblin cells."

Sirius returned quickly with Amelia Bones. When the Head of an Ancient and Noble House turns up demanding your presence at a crime scene, you don't ask why, you grab your wand and follow.

"Lord Xander, what happened here?" Amelia asked as she surveyed the carnage of bodies and the assorted Goblins and Dragons surrounding the area and looking very menacing.

"Follow me." Xander said stiffly before turning and striding away.

Amelia followed worriedly. She had never known Xander to be like this, he was clearly tightly wound.

Eventually Xander stopped and pointed to the ground. There, lying in the grass and mud was a severed hand. It clearly belonged to a young person, possibly male.

"Who's hand is that?" Amelia asked worriedly.

"That…" Xander said tightly. "is the severed wand hand of my son, Harry."

Amelia gasped in horror. It was clear to see that it had been removed in a callous fashion.

"Sweet Merlin!" Amelia was pale. "Please tell me he was not awake when that happened."

Xander turned and stared straight into her eyes. He allowed his wolf eyes to fade and his patch to appear. He then reached up and removed his patch revealing the gaping hole beneath.

Amelia's complexion took on a tint of green.

"I do not know as Harry was rushed to Hogwarts as soon as we found him. But I believe he experienced every millisecond of pain, just as I did when my eye was crushed."

Amelia didn't even flinch as behind her Sirius let out an almighty roar of anger. She just stood there as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Harry was a lovely boy. Kind and caring, the type of boy that every mother wished for their daughter to bring home. For him to be attacked and tortured like this was… unthinkable.

But Amelia had to think professionally. Harry was the Head of an Ancient and Noble House, son of the Head of several Ancient and Noble Houses and current heir to yet another Ancient and Noble House. He was also the Prince of the Goblins and most likely to succeed his father as their King when his time came to challenge him for leadership. Something that Lord Xander had been preparing him for since his third year.

She had recognised some of the bodies as Xander had lead her to the severed hand of Harry Potter. Goyle and MacNair were two of the more prominent ones. This would be a nightmare for the Ministry.

Amelia turned and bowed deeply to Xander. "My Lord, I stand ready to assist."

Xander simply nodded and Amelia stood up awaiting instruction. "We need to investigate the area so we can determine what happened and who was involved. I do not believe that these bodies were the only ones.

"I also want to know why my son was unable to communicate with me or teleport himself to safety."

"My Lord, I believe Lord Harry of Gryffindor would be best able to tell us who was involved, he is a man of great character and good standing. His word is enough for me."

Amelia paused and marched over to a crumbled head stone with chains hanging from the debris.

"I believe these are magic suppressing cuffs used on criminals. It would explain why Lord Gryffindor was unable to access his magic.

"Can I assume that it was yourself and your rescue party who managed to kill the ones littered here?" She asked, Xander had yet to replace his patch, he didn't seem intent to do so anytime soon.

"No, that was Harry. We arrived to find him in his dragon form tearing into them. He collapsed on our arrival." Xander said with a hint of pride.

"He managed to do this even with his injury?" She asked in shock. "But how if he- oh sweet Merlin, no." She cried morosely. "Without his hand, he could have slipped his chains and breeched the suppressing field."

It was just another morbid detail that painted an even more detailed picture of the horrors young Harry had to endure.

"Please excuse me Madam Bones, I must go to my son." Xander said stiffly.

"Of course My Lord, I will work with My Lords Slytherin and Black." She bowed. "My Lord, with your permission, might I visit my niece this evening? I must discuss today's events with her."

Xander just nodded and vanished on the spot.

Amelia took a moment to centre herself before retreating behind her mask of professionalism. She would see justice for Harry.

Xander teleported straight to the Hospital Wing where he found Harry lying in bed crying silently as Hermione held him tightly and Fawkes sang softly on the headboard.

Xander walked over and pulled them both into a tight hug careful not to jostle Harry's arm.

"There will be dragons surrounding the school, goblins and werewolves too. This place will be your haven as long as you need it." Xander whispered into Harry's hair.

"Where's your w-w-wolf eyes?" Harry asked through his sniffles.

"So long as my son is not whole, I can not be whole myself." Xander said quietly.

Harry shook his head violently as sobs came harder, he pushed himself away from Xander to look him in the face. "No one else suffers for me. Not after today. Please, bring them back." Harry begged.

"Harry-"

"Xander, he needs you to be strong." Joyce said quietly as she appeared next to the bed. "He needs some normality."

Xander sighed but brought his wolf eyes back.

Xander pulled Harry into a tight hug before handing off to Joyce. Hermione whispered into Harry's ear before kissing his temple and sliding off of the bed. She led Xander to Poppy's office where the school matron was working as she silently cried.

"Oh Xander, I don't know if he'll ever get over this." Poppy cried as she finished sealing the door.

"We just have to help him as best we can." Xander assured him. "Why hasn't he tried a partial morphing of his hand?"

"He did." Hermione said sadly. "But he became hysterical and it reverted back."

"It would be too vivid a reminder, Harry is right handed." Poppy offered.

"I think the bastards knew that and did it on purpose." Xander snarled.

"I can't get him to sleep, he refuses to take dreamless sleep potion." Poppy said worriedly.

"He's afraid that the 'dreamless' part won't be effective and that he'll be trapped in his nightmares." Xander said with a shudder. "I suffered the same thing when my eye was destroyed." He explained.

"Maybe some calming draughts?" Hermione suggested.

"We can try." Poppy conceded.

"Prepare them, I need to retrieve Harry's memories of what happened, I don't think it's going to be pretty."

Neither of the women protested. They knew it had to be done, better to do it now than dredge it up again later.

Xander and the two girls walked back to Harry and Hermione resumed her place on the bed.

"Harry, this is going to be hard, but I need the memory of what happened." Xander said softly.

To their surprise Harry merely handed a vial to Xander. "Didn't want to do it later, did it in the bathroom." Harry said tiredly.

"Nice one Harry. Now, Poppy is going to give you a calming draught and I want you to try and get some sleep." Harry went to protest but Xander got there first. "I know you don't want to, but you do need to. Fawkes will sing whilst you try and Mom will get Godric to sit on your head and hopefully provide some added protection."

They were interrupted by the Hospital Wing doors opening and Nicholas Flamel marching in.

"Harry, I heard what was happening and thought you could use my services." He said handing him a vial. "This is the Dreamless Sleep Potion without the element that makes you sleep. So you will be able to use it and awaken from any nightmares that break through. But you can't use it too often, use it tonight, but try not to tomorrow."

Harry spent the night in the Hospital Wing, Poppy assured him she would have him back in his room by the following day, but she wanted to keep an eye on him. Fawkes sang him to sleep as Neville and Hermione took beds on either side of him.

That evening Amelia arrived at the castle to meet with Susan and Xander. She decided to see Xander first.

"My Lord-"

"Just Xander, Amelia. This day has been too long and hard to fight with titles." Xander said tightly. They were seated in Minerva's office whilst she stood watch over Harry. Minerva had felt trapped all day at not being able to comfort her son. She would spend all night curled up at the foot of his bed in cat form and all day with him tomorrow.

"Xander, from what we observed at the scene, there were some thirty wizards, all were likely death eaters. If Harry was the only one facing them, then he got three of them.

"We believe that some kind of ritual was being performed and that Harry… Harry was… made a part of it.

"We can't identify the wizards that escaped, but the three that died were MacNair, Goyle senior and Cartwright."

"MacNair? Didn't he work in the Ministry?" Xander asked.

"He did. I intend to run checks for the Dark Mark and demand loyalty oaths starting tomorrow morning." Amelia assured him.

"I will also need to speak with Gregory Goyle Junior and inform of his father's fate."

"Of course, I take it you haven't spoken to Susan yet?"

"I came here first."

"Good, would you join me in witnessing the torture and abuse of my son?" Xander asked stiffly as he held up the vial of Harry's memory.

Amelia paled, but she shakily nodded. This was her duty.

Amelia nearly broke down as soon as she entered the memory. The sight of Harry tied to a gravestone was terrible, but knowing what was coming… she wasn't sure she would be able to handle it.

She turned her attention away from Harry to the large cauldron and the figure with a bundle.

"By Merlin! That's Barty Crouch Jr.!" She exclaimed.

"Crouch's son?"

"He's supposed to be dead, died in Azkaban years ago." Amelia replied.

"I suggest we have a word with Barty senior tonight." Xander growled.

"You think he is party to this? He sent his own son to Azkaban for being a Death Eater."

"Never rule anyone out." Xander said without expression.

Xander walked up to the man to inspect the bundle. "That is one butt ugly baby."

Amelia marched over. "That's… I have no idea what that is." She said in disgust and revulsion.

"My guess… Voldemort." Xander shrugged impassively. "This is probably a ritual to get his body back."

"Merlin!" She whispered.

They watched as Crouch Jr. began the ritual, the horror as he sliced off his own arm, and then as torturously headed over to Harry.

But it was too much for Amelia, she buried her head in Xander's chest and he held her tightly as they heard Harry's screams of agony and terror.

"It's done Amelia, just focus on the cauldron." Xander instructed, his eyes had never left his son, tears streamed down his face.

Amelia spared a glance at Harry and Xander had to pause the memory as they hastily exited the pensieve and Amelia threw up in a corner.

Xander cleared the mess and called for Dobby to bring some appropriate refreshments.

Amelia was a sobbing mess, it was clear she would not be able to continue watching. Xander grabbed her shoulders and teleported to the Hospital Wing.

"Xander? What's wrong?" Godric asked as he saw the Head of the DMLE sobbing uncontrollably.

"We were trying to view Harry's memory of what happened… she couldn't take it." Xander said stiffly. It was clear that Xander was struggling himself.

"Place my hat on her head, I will remove the memories. Call Poppy for a Dreamless Sleep Potion." Godric instructed.

In short order Poppy, Godric and Xander were seated in Poppy's office as Amelia Bones rested in a bed outside.

"Amelia is the toughest person I know." Poppy said morosely. "That she could not handle it speaks to just how horrific it must have been for Harry.

"How can you stand it?" She asked Xander.

"I redirect my rage and horror into more… creative outlets." Xander said without emotion.

"What happened to Harry?" Godric asked.

"He was used, tortured and mutilated in a ritual to bring back Voldemort." He said flatly.

"Voldemort!" Poppy gasped. "Merlin help us."

"No, Merlin help him." Xander snarled. "By the time I am done with him and his cronies, he will be begging me for death… but there is no mercy for him."

Neither Poppy nor Godric had any inclination to doubt Xander's word.

Xander sighed and rose from his chair. "If you will excuse me, I need to go and finish viewing the memory." Without another he opened the door with Poppy and Godric following only for them to crash into his back as Xander snorted.

He stood aside to reveal the three female dragons and the eggs they were nesting for Norbert along with a company of Goblins and a pack of werewolves, he would ask later, but he wouldn't be surprised if Harry had subconsciously summoned them all. All of them had awakened and been in a defensive stance the second the door opened. Xander just smiled weakly and waved goodbye to them as he vanished.

Before heading into Minerva's office and the Pensieve, he headed back to the apartment to grab a camera that Luna used to take pictures of memories for the Quibbler.

Xander took a deep breath before entering the Pensieve. He took pictures of every scene and the faces of every Death Eater and Voldemort himself. He wouldn't subject Amelia to trying to view this a second time, but he would provide her with all the evidence she needed.

He watched with pride and awe as Harry struggled to overcome the pain and magical suppression cuffs. He also managed to shield his eyes just before Harry blinded them all.

When he was finished he removed the memory from the Pensieve and placed it behind the same portrait that held the ownership papers for Hogwarts.

Xander teleported straight to his bedroom where he knew Nym was waiting anxiously for him. He was surprised to see Fleur in her nightclothes in the bed too. Both ladies quickly rushed up and hugged him.

"What are you doing here Fleur?"

"After today there was no way I would be staying anywhere other than with you." She stated firmly. "Papa has signed a marriage contract, all you need to do is sign it as well and no one will be able to complain." She indicated the sheets of parchment on the desk.

"Dad drew one up for me and signed it with Sirius as well. Neither of us wants to put this off any longer." Nym said with a frown.

"But… you're girls… don't you want a wedding?" Xander protested.

"We want you. Anything else is… dressing." Nym countered.

"Just sign them, so we can go to bed. I know you must be exhausted." Fleur pointed out.

Fleur was right. Xander was exhausted, physically and mentally. He wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed. He signed the contracts with little hesitation.

Fleur and Nym led him to the bed where they held each other as they cried themselves to sleep.

"Susan?" Amelia called as she entered the Hufflepuff common room.

"Auntie?" She cried happily. "What are you doing here?" She asked as she hugged her only remaining family.

"Just some business to discuss with Lord Hogwarts. Take a walk with me so we can catch up?" The news of Harry's disappearance had been kept very quiet. Nobody had wanted to spook the children.

As Amelia led Susan towards the lake she listened to her niece rattle on about school and her friends. Amelia was simply content to have her favourite girls voice soothe her soul. But they soon arrived at the lake.

"Ok Auntie. What's the real reason you're here?" Susan demanded.

A small smile graced Amelia's features. She had trained her adopted daughter well.

"Very good Susie." She cast a privacy charm around them. "What do you know about what happened to Harry Potter last night?"

Susan frowned. "Nothing, is he ok?"

Amelia sighed. "Not even slightly. Susan… what happened to Harry was… Madam Pomphrey and Lord Godric had to obliviate the memories from my mind… they were so bad that I couldn't cope with them." Tears began to streak down her cheeks.

Susan was really worried. Her aunt had never cried before, she knew that she had a reputation for being one of the hardest Aurors in the past century.

Amelia wiped her cheeks with her hand. "Susan, Harry was kidnapped yesterday at lunch. He was taken and used by Death Eaters to bring back Voldemort. They cut off Harry's hand in a brutal fashion… and he was awake for the whole thing."

By this point Susan was crying as well. "Bu- bu-but-" Susan needed to know why someone would do this, she just couldn't figure out how to ask.

Amelia pulled Susan into a tight hug. "Right now, Harry is lying in the Hospital Wing without his hand. He is struggling to cope with that and the brutal torture he under went."

"Can we help him?"

Four muffled and sobbed words… but four words that made Amelia prouder of her young niece than ever before.

"I want us to offer our allegiance to the House of Hogwarts, Potter and the others that Harry belongs to. I want us to swear to aid them in gaining justice." She said as she held Susan at arms length and stared into her eyes.

Susan just nodded vigorously. "Yes. We help Harry anyway we can." She said adamantly. Susan had been taught all the traditions of Purebloods, she knew that Amelia was saying that if Harry raised an army or militia, they would be among the first to volunteer. Both ladies felt indebted to Harry already for the simple fact that they felt he had extended his protection to them already with the Lily Charm. The House of Bones would stand by the House of Potter et al.

"Gnarlfang, report." Xander ordered

Assembled in Minerva's office were a select group of people, which included his brothers, Joyce, Minerva, Sirius, Remus and Amelia. Gnarlfang was the goblin in charge of investigating yesterday's tragedy.

"My liege, we have determined that there were 33 wizards present at the site. A potion of unknown origin was brewed but the cauldron and its contents some how vanished.

"We found that the grave of Tom Riddle Sr. was raided and at least one bone was removed. We found the blood of Prince Harry on the statue that was Tom Riddle's grave.

At this point Gnarlfang began to grin proudly. "Prince Harry managed to kill three of his attackers and injure at least three to the point that they bled. Most interesting was this."

Gnarlfang placed a silver hand on the table, bound to the severed end was flesh and bone.

"Good." Xander said snarl. "Harry got the man who removed his hand."

"You know who this is My Liege?" Gnarlfang asked in surprise.

"I have viewed my son's memory of the attack. I took pictures of the Death Eaters."

"My Liege, if we could view the memory ourselves, our oldest mages might be able to identify the ritual used."

"I warn you, it was far from pleasant."

"It will only stoke the flames of anger amongst your servants, My Liege." Gnarlfang said with a bow.

"Was there anything else you feel we should know specifically?"

"Just one thing that has occurred to me. As we can identify the attackers, we can freeze their vaults. Under Goblin Law, we cannot touch it or claim it. But as they have committed crimes against the Goblin Royal Family… we can be… inventive in how we return it." He said with a malicious smirk.

Xander returned the smirk with a knowing nod. "Inform Ragnok I will be by today to discuss our next move concerning the vaults and our announcement to the public.

"Also, remove the rest of the bones… in fact, remove the entire graveyard. The last thing we need is for them to be used again, but they may be useful to us later."

With that, Gnarlfang took his leave to carry out Xander's orders.

"Well?" Xander asked the assembled adults.

There was an uncomfortable silence, war was coming, and Harry had been the victim of the first salvo.

"What do you plan to tell the public?" Amelia asked.

"Every thing." Xander said flatly. "Complete with various pictures. I'm also going to subject Harry to something that may set him back somewhat, but I am going to have him stand next to me and take pride in his kills when I mount the heads outside of Gringotts."

Amelia, Sirius and Remus all winced at that. Amelia and Remus remembered just how bad Harry had been, and how far he had come. But what affected the three of them was the mounting of the heads of enemies. Especially by young Harry.

None of them liked the idea, as they hadn't grown up being taught Goblin customs. For Sirius it reminded him too much of his families traditions of mounting the heads of former house elves.

All of them knew better than to question Xander.

"Harry still has the final task to complete in as well." Godric scowled.

"Don't worry, Harry is going to stroll through it. Crouch has made rules of no flying, teleporting, apparating or phasing. Harry has a final trick up his sleeve-"

There was a collective wince as once again, an innocuous comment in reference, even metaphorically, to Harry's hands reminded them of the trauma he had been through.

"Amelia, what do you think the Ministry will do?" Sal asked.

"I honestly can't say." She sighed. "By including me in the investigation the Ministry has to respond. But Malfoy has Fudge deep in his pockets… it doesn't help that Fudge seems to be becoming more and more unhinged when Hogwarts is mentioned."

"What's the immediate plan for Harry?" Remus asked Xander.

"I'm tempted to take him and run to Australia or Canada. Just to try and give him some happiness or time to re-coup." He admitted. "But it wouldn't do him any good."

Xander looked at the severed silver hand sitting on the table, as left by Gnarlfang.

"But I have an idea to get him back on track for recovery." Without another word he stood and left, taking the hand with him and leaving everyone staring after him.

Harry was lying in bed and trying to think about anything that didn't lead back to his missing limb or yesterday's horrors. His friends were in class, only Fawkes was there to keep him company… and the assorted dragons, werewolves and goblins guarding him.

Every so often, Harry would forget he had no right hand. It was his primary hand, his writing hand, his wand hand. But it was also the hand he used to scratch his face with.

He would forget this and find himself staring at the stump that was left. Several times he had vomited in shock. Fawkes would sing softly and one of the others would tend to him.

Harry had run out of tears.

He had no energy to cry or sob.

He had no will left to live.

He just wanted to sleep.

To never wake up.

"Harry!"

He jumped as he hadn't noticed Xander come in. Yet here he was standing next to him.

"Sorry, I teleported in." Xander apologised.

Harry just nodded. His depression left him with barely any energy.

"Look at me Harry." Xander said sternly.

Harry barely turned his head to Xander. He just wanted to sleep.

"Harry, do you recognise this?"

Harry slowly looked down to what Xander was holding and promptly fell off the bed and vomited. Having thrown up so much, he had nothing but bile left.

Xander rushed around, absently vanishing the mess.

"Harry, I know this is very bad for you, but I think it holds a part of you getting better." Xander said as he grabbed Harry's shoulders. "Harry, do you remember seeing the bastard Barty Crouch Junior having this hand made by Tom?"

Harry was desperately trying to crawl under the bed next to his, he didn't know why his dad would do this to him. Didn't he love him? Care for him? Promise to keep him safe? But here he was waving a piece of yesterday's horrors in front of him.

"HARRY! Focus!" Xander grabbed Harry's face and forced him to stare into his eyes.

"Do you remember this hand being made?"

Harry's breathing was becoming erratic. But he nodded.

"Harry, do you remember one of the first things I taught Neville in that very first class? Remember I told Neville that if you watch the adults do it, then you can pretty much mimic them?"

Harry nodded, calming as Xander stared into his eyes and spoke in a flat monotone.

"Harry, Tom is an adult. You can far exceed anything any adult can do. This hand will be mounted outside Gringotts tomorrow. A trophy and declaration of your victory over your enemies.

"For tonight, I want you to think about this hand, think about why it is your ticket back to the road to recovery and how you can do better than Tom."

Xander placed the severed silver hand on the table at the end of the bed, he then bent down and picked Harry up, placing him on the bed.

"Harry, there is something else I need you to do."

On the bed between them, the Pensieve appeared. Xander held out his hand and a vial of memory appeared.

"I've seen you fight through fear to stand up to evil wizards, abusive adults, killer giant snakes, dragons made of Fiendfyre and so much more.

"It's time for you to fight that fear and face your nightmare. I want you to come with me and review your torture yesterday. I want you to be analytical, I want you to point out your flaws, and theirs."

Even in his state of depressed numbness, Harry could see what his father was talking about with Crouch's hand. He knew that Xander was trying to make him stronger from his experiences. Throughout all the things Xander had mentioned, Xander had also been there. Encouraging or protecting as needing, but never giving him more than he could handle, or preventing him from doing what he could.

Once more, Harry put his trust in the only father he ever knew and entered the pensieve.

A/N: I don't usually do this but I wanted to give a short explanation as to why Harry went through what he did. In short, Wormtail was a coward, he wouldn't have the stomach to do that sort of thing and only fear made him able to cut off his own arm. If Crouch Jr. had been there he would have revelled in it, he always struck me as a fanatic and psychopath and would take pleasure in torture, which would explain his part in the torture of the Longbottoms.

I will be posting the next chapter later today rather than waiting the full day as usual.


	7. Chapter 31 - Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The spirit of Hogwarts believes that Harry has suffered enough in his eleven years of life and calls in a protector to guide and care for him. Not slash, rating for violence in later chapters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a Repost all words belong to mjimeyg

*Chapter 31*: Chapter 31  
"Yesterday lunchtime, my son Harry Potter, was kidnapped from the Three Broomsticks." Xander addressed the assembled crowds of shoppers, journalists and people who had heard that Lord Hogwarts would be speaking.

The international community was hanging on his every word, it was being relayed via the wireless and various media outlets that catered to the wizarding world.

"Madam Rosmerta was placed under the Imperious and used by the kidnappers to bring Harry to them through cowardly means of a portkey enchanted to knock Harry out and prevent him from defending himself."

There were gasps of horror and mutterings.

"Harry awoke to find himself tied to a statue that acted as a grave marker for Tom Riddle. The father of Tom Marvolo Riddle Junior, also known as Lord Voldemort."

There were literal cries of fright at both the name and the described scenario.

"Harry was then used by Barty Crouch Junior in a ritual to give Tom Riddle a new body. A ritual that required Harry's blood. They torturously cut off his hand… WHILST HE WAS AWAKE WITH A KNIFE!" Xander roared.

Several people vomited and a few fainted. Some lost control of their bladders and bowels.

"Riddle got his body back and called his Death Eaters to him. I know their faces. I know their names. I will be coming for them.

"Harry managed to free himself and kill several. Including Barty Crouch Junior, who had been granted this silver hand by Tom in return for cutting off his own hand and giving him his body."

Xander held up the silver hand for them all to see.

"There are three things that will happen today. First, I will provide all media outlets with copies of the pictures of what happened to my son. I will leave it to their discretion as to whether they publish them.

"Second, Harry's hand was taken from him. Tom thought he was being fancy with this silver hand. Harry will now show you his power."

Harry Potter suddenly appeared on steps of Gringotts. He didn't say a word though. He simply held out has mutilated limb causing more reactions of horror and fear.

As the crowd watched, they saw a clear liquid begin to swirl at the end of the arm, it began to flow out and form a hand, but they also saw the skin that covered the end of the limb split open and reveal the blood, muscle and bones. The liquid was crystal clear, and it hardened that way to form a perfect hand.

The gasps and mutterings were now of awe.

Harry flexed his new hand before the crowd. He had lost his hand and his wand, so he would replace both with a hand made of a pure magical foci. Diamond.

Harry funnelled his magic into the hand causing it to glow.

He turned to the sack that sat behind Xander and waved his new hand at the bag causing it to rise up, out of the bag floated four heads, some of them were recognised by the crowd, they frequented Diagon Alley. The heads were impaled on the hooks next to the heads of Quirrell and Pettigrew.

Then Harry vanished.

Xander remained silent for a few seconds to let them absorb what they had seen.

"Finally. The Death Eaters have committed crimes against the Goblin Royal Family. We will not be providing banking services for them. As such, we can no longer hold their money for them. It will be left here on the streets of Diagon Alley, should they wish to collect their wealth. The Goblin Nation is not responsible for what happens to the wealth of the wizarding world once it leaves their territory." He said with a pointed look.

In front of the journalists, Xander had arranged for the poorest families and members of the British Wizarding World to stand. The Goblins had brought them and provided them with bottomless bags and disillusioned all of them.

Xander vanished.

Everyone started talking and wondering what that meant.

Then Goblins started marching out of the bank carrying sacks, they lined up along edge of the steps leading into the bank and began tipping out the contents of their sacks.

Gold rained that day as the wealth and treasures of those that would harm the Goblin Nation were tossed from the safety of Gringotts Bank like yesterdays trash. The destitute magical folk were quick to scoop up as much as they could before dashing away before they could be stopped.

Twenty minutes later the Aurors arrived to break up the disturbance. Twenty minutes was all that Amelia could justify delaying.

It also wasn't her fault that she only had two Aurors available.

Fudge was outraged.

First this so-called 'Lord Hogwarts' had declared He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back, as if that was possible. Britain had seen thirteen years of peace and prosperity under his rule, and this man sought to sow fear and terror with his irrational claims.

Second, he had claimed that so-called Death Eaters had mutilated his son. It was far more likely the boy was in over his head with the Tournament and had chopped off his own hand trying a spell that was too much for him. This was how the boy tried to save face.

Third, he had named the 'Death Eaters'. Several of those he had named were high-ranking Ministry officials. One of who was his friend and financial backer, Lucius Malfoy. It was bad enough he had lost both his son and his wife, but now he was being accused of crimes he had been already cleared of. They had a solid defence of being under the Imperious Curse.

Finally, Gringotts had, in an act of pure callousness, poured the gold of those falsely accused men on to the streets. Much of the gold was missing but nobody could figure out where it had gone. Everyone had seen it poured onto the street, but only a quarter of what was poured remained. Almost as if most of it was Leprechaun gold. Something that suggested further foul play by the Goblins.

Lucius would survive as although the bulk of his wealth was in Gringotts, he kept healthy reserves secreted away in his mansion. But the others had already filed complaints and requests for advances. Which Fudge was happy to approve to 'upstanding citizens'… and of course had Lucius' blessing.

Presently, he was in a meeting with Lucius Malfoy and Delores Umbridge, his Senior Undersecretary. Delores was… a unique experience, but she was absolutely loyal to him.

Their current topic of discussion was the announcement that morning by 'Lord Hogwarts.

"It would seem best that you simply ignore it." Lucius said airily. "As you said, the boy probably overreached himself and destroyed his own hand. He is concocting this… incredibly far-fetched story that I, of all people, was involved in the resurrection of the greatest Dark Lord of all time! It's absolutely ludicrous.

"Responding to it or opening an investigation will simply eat at the tax-payers money and give the boy more credence than he deserves.

"If asked, simply state that the British Ministry of Magic does not investigate wild stories."

"Hem hem." Fudge squashed the urge to wince, he hated when Delores did that. "Whilst I agree with our honoured guest," She simpered, "perhaps an interview putting forth your theory about the boys injury. It would help to discredit the story and turn the attention away from the Ministry and on to the boy… and his… 'father'." She said with contempt.

"Sound ideas." Fudge said with an attempted air of sage and wisdom. He failed to pull it off.

"Now what of the school. This tournament has clearly shown that our children are in danger there. I mean, by Merlin, they have dragons and werewolves roaming all over the place!" Fudge ranted.

"Minister, I have been researching the school, as I know the children are close to your heart." Delores oozed worship. "I have discovered that although the grounds and buildings are the property of Hogwarts and the Founders, the educational entity itself is under the control of the Ministry… to a degree."

Fudge's eyes lit up at that and he leaned forward eagerly.

"Unfortunately, it is only under certain circumstances. For instance, we set the curriculum. In the event that the Headmaster is unable to fill a post, then the Ministry can appoint someone.

"Furthermore, the Ministry can impose rules and regulations as pertaining to school activities and lessons and has the right to monitor teachers and lessons and take action if they are found to be… lacking."

Fudge frowned. "What does that mean in terms of practical application?"

"Retired Auror Alastor Moody is the current Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. We could reactivate him and put some one in position who would ensure the safety and education of the students."

"Do we have anyone we could trust to do it?" Fudge asked.

"They would have to be someone you trust with your most intimate of secrets, your plans for the British Wizarding world and who is loyal to you to a fault. Someone capable of moulding the minds of our young children."

Lucius didn't know whether to vomit or roll his eyes. The woman's toadying was unbearable, but Fudge seemed to eat it up. Either way, it was lunchtime.

"Perhaps Madam Umbridge would be appropriate." Lucius offered. He was getting hungry.

Delores looked shocked and appropriately flattered, Fudge looked flabbergasted.

"Of course! The perfect choice." Fudge declared.

"Yes, excellent." Lucius stated blandly as he stood quickly. "I'm sure Madam Umbridge will set things on the go, and with that, I bid you good day."

Harry had barely slept that night. When he had, he had woken up screaming as the nightmares assaulted him. Hermione had refused to leave him that night, at one point she had literally told Minerva where to shove it.

She got detention for it, but Minerva also backed off.

This morning would be the first time that Harry would encounter the student body and his friends since the incident. He had decided to get there early and hope that his friends were there early so he could blend in.

Slowly the students filtered in along with various professors. He really wanted Hermione or Neville to arrive. The first of his friends to arrive were the Weasley twins who immediately sat to his left and right after giving him a one armed hug each.

A few Hufflepuffs turned up, amongst them were Justin and Susan, Justin gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze whilst Susan kissed the top of his head. Harry flinched both times, but they ignored it. Harry was not known for being very tactile.

Cedric, Cho and a few Ravenclaws arrived and offered touches and the occasional kiss. Daphne and Tracy led a group of younger Slytherins in greeting and welcoming their friend.

It was a minute or so later that a group of Beauxbaton girls came in and on seeing Harry they piled into him in a huge hug, Ginny, Luna and a few of their friends entered and joined the group hug which led to various students joining in until most of the female students had smothered him and a fair few male ones too.

When the Durmstrang boys arrived they formed ranks with military precision and saluted Harry with their right hand over their chests and a bow which was held until Harry stood and returned it with mental prompting from Xander who was now watching from the corner.

Neville and Hermione soon arrived with an apology and muttered excuses about fools. The rest of Slytherin house hobbled in a few minutes later and shot hateful glares at Neville and Hermione who had taken the proffered seats from the twins.

There was lots of speculation and rumours floating around the tables, Harry knew that there would be no way around the staring at his new hand but he wished it would hurry up and finish.

As the students finished eating, Xander stood up.

"Every time we have a major incident that affects the school, we've provided you with the opportunity to view the memories of the event and ask questions.

"This time will be a little different. The Head of the DMLE had to have the memories of viewing the pensieve erased as they were too much for her, even I am having nightmares still. So… we won't be showing you these memories.

"But… you have questions and I know Harry would like to lose the attention as soon as possible so, Harry, get up here so we can get this out of the way."

A few years ago, Harry had balked at doing this, but experience had taught him that Xander was right. A few minutes/hours of intense scrutiny under the spotlight would head off weeks or months of rumours and gossip.

The major difference this time was that Harry was the only witness. Previous times at least Xander had been with him.

Xander at least played the Master of Ceremonies for him so all he had to do was answer questions.

"Ok, so… first question?" Xander asked. "Dennis Creevey."

"Did you really eat the Death Eaters, what did they taste like?" The young boy asked in morbid fascination.

Harry actually had to fight a smile at that one. "Didn't 'eat' them, but I did tear them up with my dragon jaws. I didn't really pay too much attention to the taste."

Truth was that he was in far too much pain to worry about tasting bigots. But the question was innocent enough and Dennis didn't need to be made to feel bad about his question.

"Cho Chang." Xander pointed out Cedric's girlfriend.

"Harry, what's your new hand made of." A typical Ravenclaw, she sought knowledge.

Harry frowned and looked at his hand. "Erm… if I did it right, then Diamond. But I don't know for sure."

Luna started bouncing up and down excitedly with her hand in the air. "Yes Luna?" Xander asked with a snort.

"Thank you Daddy." She said cheekily. "Was there a reason for picking diamond?"

"Hard to break and I figured it would be a good focus." Harry said as he channelled a small amount magic through his hand to make a blob of fire.

Xander indicated a fifth year boy from Durmstrang. "Sorry, I don't know your name, but go ahead."

"I is Ivan sir." The dark haired youth said with quick sharp bow. "Did- Did the Dark Lord say vhat he plans next?"

Harry looked a little queasy at that.

"Enough Ivan." Igor said quickly.

The boy suddenly seemed to be half arguing and half pleading with his headmaster, but as it was in Bulgarian, most of the students couldn't understand.

Except Sal who joined in the conversation.

Eventually Sal managed to calm the two down.

"Ivan is worried about his family, they are non-magicals. He wants to keep them safe." Sal explained.

"I'm sorry, I really wasn't paying attention to them, I was… trying to escape." Again it was more a matter of him being in too much pain to be able to focus on more than one thing.

"I saw the memory, and Tom didn't say anything interesting. He was pretty much going on and on about how he beat death and how disappointed he was in his Death Eaters." Xander explained.

Ivan was clearly distressed but knew that there was nothing to be done.

"Justin Finch-Fletchly." Xander acknowledged.

"Harry, can you feel, with your new hand?" He asked curiously.

"I can feel something, but I haven't figured out what… yet."

"Fred… or George… which ever one you might be."

"How many times have you hit yourself in the head with that thing?" The twin asked with a grin.

Harry looked embarrassed. "Just the once… I… I had an itchy nose."

There was a ripple of laughter.

"Daphne Greengrass."

"Could we take a magical picture of it moving… so we can pass that around instead of gawking at Harry?" She asked with a smirk.

"Interesting plan, Daph. Harry, what do you think?"

"Can we just make it one picture, and enlarge, it's weird enough having images of me in all those newspapers, having an image of my hand moving would be… creepy."

"Ok, and yes Colin, you can take the picture." Xander said to bouncing third year.

The question and answer session went on for about an hour, the students from the other schools eventually joining in as they became familiar with the procedure. Occasionally there was an innocent question that was a little too hard emotionally for Harry to answer, Xander did his best. Then there were the idiots who wanted Harry to suffer and believed Voldemort was the path to Pureblood rule. They were swiftly put down by avid Harry supporters amongst the students.

Time started to pass and a level as close to normality as possible was reached. There were a few major changes. Harry could no longer sleep at night without a nightmare, before his abduction, he had nightmares every night. These were explained by Emma, who had some experience in psychology, as a by product of Harry's mental issues such as his inability to comfortably be out in public.

His nightmares now would wake him up, sometimes violently, always shaking and sweating and often crying. Cushioning charms had to be placed on all the hard areas around his bed after he woke from a nightmare where he was punching something in an escape, this translated into a waking physical action where he punched the side table and cracked his knuckles or broke something with his diamond hand.

After Harry had woken on the third night and promptly vomited and was nearly inconsolable, Hermione had been livid and argued ferociously with Minerva about letting her sleep with Harry so she could help him at night.

Minerva was not keen on a young girl sleeping in the bed of a young boy in her school. Or at all.

"Dan, Emma. Wake up, got a little problem."

The Granger's were instantly awake and putting their robes on when they realised Xander was in the room. They dreaded the worst.

"Woah! Easy there, I said little problem, no ones hurt… yet."

They paused at the yet.

"Speak. Quickly." Emma ordered.

Xander sat on a chair in the corner of the room.

"Harry is having major nightmares. He wakes up sweating, shouting… he broke his hand yesterday as he woke in shock and threw up too."

"That sounds more like night terrors." Dan frowned.

"Well, whatever they are, Hermione is demanding to be able to sleep with Harry so she can be there for him. At this moment she and Minerva are shouting it out."

"Oh lord." Emma moaned as she resumed putting her robe on. "Xander, take us to them."

"Hermione Granger! That is enough." Emma respected and admired her daughters desire and intent to protect her boyfriend, but she was making enemies whilst doing it.

"Minerva, you too." Xander said with a quiet authority.

Xander marched over to Harry's bed and pulled him into a one armed hug. The boy was still scared stiff and curled up at the head of the bed.

"Harry, can you remember what happens in your dreams?" Dan asked as he sat on the end of the bed.

"N-n-n-n… uh uh." He stuttered horribly.

"Has anyone tried to wake him from these nightmares?"

"We all have. Only works sometimes." Xander answered.

"Yes, night terrors." Dan scowled. "Ok, we give permission for Hermione sleep in the same bed as Harry."

"Really, I can't allow that!" Minerva was appalled.

"Minerva, Harry is likely suffering from night terrors, post traumatic stress disorder and a whole host of other issues. And that's on top of his pre-existing problems. He needs all the help he can get. If Hermione can be his security blanket then that's fine by us." Emma explained.

"We need to find him a counsellor, someone he can talk to without worrying about it being talked about with others." Dan added.

"Papa can help us." Fleur offered from the doorway where she and Nym were watching worriedly. "He has told us before of counsellors for Aurors and Gendarmes who have been involved in high risk situations like fights and attacks or discovering gruesome crime scenes. I will call him tomorrow."

"Many thanks Fleur." Dan smiled at the young woman.

In order to appease Minerva's sensibilities, Joyce was conscripted to keep an eye on the two teens. The wards were lowered and altered in Harry's bedroom so that only conscious intent would activate them.

Joyce's other job was to wake Harry before the night terrors could set in. Godric aided this by having Harry wear him each night as a nightcap.

Suffice to say that there would be no hanky-panky between the young couple with one of Harry's mums and his uncle/older brother watching over him. Neither minded as they both wanted to get a decent night's sleep.

The night terrors aside (and the occasional black eye from when Harry accidentally hit himself with his new hand), Harry began to recover. Alain and Xander arranged for Harry to travel over to the Delacour Manor several times a week to speak with a certified counsellor. Everybody knew that they were not to question Harry about what was said.

Hermione of course compensated by studying psychology and psychiatry, she was forbidden from sharing her findings in case they confused Harry or accidentally contradicted what the counsellor did.

Xander had a problem of his own. He was about to lose his DADA professor. Again!

"I had a feeling it would happen." Alastor growled. "Only I figured it would be Amelia who recalled me. Not that fool Fudge!"

"I swear that classroom is cursed!" Xander moaned.

"Rumour has it that Voldemort cursed the position. I have no idea why though." Minerva frowned.

"Wait… an actual curse or… just a maniac spouting a lot of hot air?"

"A magical curse." Minerva confirmed. "We haven't had a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor last more than a year for well over a decade, nearly two!"

"A curse by old Tom, eh?" Xander mused.

"Xander, every time you get that look I wind up with more work." Minerva scowled at the currently contemplating co-headmaster.

"Maybe, but it may also be the solution." Xander grinned unrepentantly. "But I don't want to spoil the surprise."

"Would it be possible for Remus to return for a few lessons till the summer and we can find a new professor?" Minerva asked.

"No, he has enough work with his own school. I'll have Harry, Neville and Hermione cover the lessons and supervise them myself." Xander shrugged.

"Students teaching students?" Minerva asked worriedly. "Not to mention they are far younger than seventh years."

"Best way to learn is to teach. I learnt a lot from teaching baby-slayers back home. Cedric, Fleur and Viktor all rave about them."

"Why not just have Beauxbatons or Durmstrang provide a teacher? Both the schools are here in their entirety." Moody pointed out.

"Fine." Xander huffed. "Spoil my fun."

"Alastor is right. I don't think Harry is ready yet to stand in front of a classroom. I believe he will need some more time to recover." Minerva agreed.

"Fine, I'll go see if Olympe or Igor can spare anyone." Xander groused.

"Still don't see-"

"Not again Moody!" Xander groaned. "Seriously, every time Igor's name comes up you start ranting!"

"Man was a Death Eater, you know what that involves, has he told you what his crimes are?" Moody challenged.

"No, and I don't intend to ask! We all know they were likely heinous."

"What makes him so special compared to Snape then?" He demanded.

"For starters he isn't still committing crimes. Snape was still at it."

"You don't know that he isn't, you can only assume." Moody countered.

"I know. But I also have this… sense, this ability to determine when someone lies or is deceitful. Like I am fairly certain that Crouch and Bagman are hiding something, and it isn't good.

"But I also know you are hiding a lot, but nothing malicious. Likewise with Igor." Xander explained.

"I'd still be happier with more physical proof than just your 'senses'." Moody groused.

"Just like I'd be happier with more than just your suspicions." Xander retorted with a grin.

Moody grunted in concession. "Touché."

Xander knocked on the private quarters in Hogwarts castle that had been assigned to Igor Karkarov. He waited a while but there was no response, so he headed to Minerva's office to check the map and see where he was.

According to the map, Igor was in his room.

Xander headed back to the door and knocked again.

Again there was no response.

"Joyce?"

"Problem?" Joyce queried as she appeared.

"The Map says Igor is in his room, but he's not responding, can you open up so I can check?"

Seconds later and the two of them were through the door and searching for him.

"Found him, can you get Poppy?" Xander called out from the bedroom.

Igor was lying in bed and clearly in pain. He was sweating profusely.

"Why the hell didn't you call for help?" Xander demanded as he conjured cool water and cloth for his forehead.

"I know the problem." Igor stated through gritted teeth. "The Dark Lord calls. Swore I vould never answer again!"

"Is this going to kill you?" Xander asked.

"Soon. Tell my vife and daughter I love them, grant them sanctuary Lord Hogvarts."

"Well sure! But let's exhaust all our options first, yeah?" Xander said with a roll of his eyes.

A mental call later and Harry was by Xander.

"Tom is calling for him and it's killing him as he refuses to answer. Can you do anything?"

Harry tuned into to view the magic of the Durmstrang Headmaster. He had already guessed the problem would be in the man's arm where the Dark Mark resided.

"Haven't seen most of this magic before." Harry mused. "Some of it is real simple, like tracking charms, there is a bit of communication magic in there too. The one thing I can tell you is that it is very very dark."

"Can you remove it?" Xander asked.

Harry looked surprised as he had never considered that. "I don't know. I haven't tried messing with magic like that before. I just look at it."

"If ve had time, I vould offer myself as experiment, I vill die soon anyvay." Igor chuckled through the pain even as Poppy prepared pain relief potions for him.

"There is a way to prevent death, but there is a huge cost." Harry said with a worried look.

"No! No von pays for my mistakes." Igor said vehemently.

"The price is one you would pay." Harry said quietly. "Your arm."

Xander winced knowing that even thinking about that was hard for Harry, let alone suggesting it.

Igor, however, was surprised for a different reason. "Truly? You take my arm and I vill be free?" He asked hopefully.

Harry was a little confused at why the man wasn't more upset. "The magic is literally in the mark, but it is feeding on your core." Harry explained. "If I had time, I could experiment with charmed objects to try and remove the magic itself, how long do you have?"

"He has an hour tops." Poppy huffed. She was desperately trying to keep the man alive.

"Take the arm. A small price to be free. Nothing compared to the evils I committed and witnessed." Igor said determinedly.

"It has to be done now or he'll die anyway." Poppy snapped.

"Madam, teach Lord Gryffindor how to do it." At Harry's look of fear and Xander's scowl, Igor went on. "I ask for your trust in this. I know vhat this vill mean for Harry. But I ask for him to do it."

Harry looked at Xander. "It's up to you Harry."

Harry knew that Xander would never put him in harms way, and that he knew if Igor was lying. "Poppy, quickly, show me how."

Poppy scowled violently. She did not like Harry being put in this position, technically it was illegal as Harry was not a licensed healer.

"Apply the numbing charm as I taught you to the whole arm.

"Now the tourniquet charm to stop all blood flow in the arm.

"Harry… above the elbow, the severing charm." She said as she closed her eyes in resignation at what her favourite pupil was about to do.

Harry took a deep breath and exhaled before casting the charm. It was swift and clean and the elbow and forearm fell limply to the bed as blood began to drip onto the bed.

"Now th- "

"You trust him Dad?" Harry asked, interrupting Poppy.

"I do." Xander frowned as they both ignored an increasingly worried Poppy.

"Good enough for me." Harry sighed as he grabbed Igor's stump and focused his magic there.

They watched all watched as a grey metal began to appear and flow forming a seamless connection with the smooth severed flesh, extending down to create an elbow and then up to an intricate hand that greatly matched the severed limb still lying on the bed.

Harry released the now fully formed left arm of Igor Karkarov and expelled a breath of air he hadn't known he was holding.

Poppy, Igor and Xander were all staring at him.

"If you trust him then I don't see why he can't be saved the discomfort and annoyance of being without the limb… I had a hard enough time without my hand, but I warn you, wrap it in blankets at night till you get used to it… you'll wake up with a broken nose otherwise." Harry scowled as recalled the past few nights.

Xander shook himself out of the shock of what Harry had done. "Why did you insist on Harry doing it?" Xander demanded heatedly.

"He saved my life." Igor said in a daze.

"Yes, I got that, but Poppy could have done it far easier than Harry, and with less mental trauma." Xander pointed out. He trusted Igor, but he did not like the position Harry was placed in.

Igor shook himself out of his own stupor and grinned at Xander. "It is because it cause him mental trauma. I now owe Lord Gryffindor a Life Debt. He experienced severe hardship to save me… but by giving me a new arm… he has gone further, he has made he whole and vell.

"If you or Madam Pomphrey vere to save me, there vould be no sacrifice. I have more reason to aid Harry, my magic vill actively help me to aid him."

"You serve Harry? One master for another?" Poppy asked a little disgusted.

Igor laughed. "No, not a master… unless I choose it. No, this is merely to prevent me being used against Harry. The Dark Lord chose to attack him as a baby. He has faced him three times since, I did not vant to be party to any more evils."

"What metal is this?" Xander asked as he examined Igor's new arm.

"I think it's titanium, at least, that's what I was aiming for. Strong, light… ish and resistant against corrosion. He can take it in the bath." Harry grinned causing Igor to laugh.

"Harry, can you do this for others? Or teach others to do it?" Poppy asked thinking of the various people in the world who had suffered a loss of limb.

Harry shrugged. "Possibly. But I don't know if it is like un-petrifying people and requires more power than the average person."

"Would you be willing to perform some tests with volunteers? And try and teach at least me?"

"As long as I don't have to stand in front of crowds." Harry grumped.

*Chapter 32*: Chapter 32  
Igor himself took over the DADA classes. His experience of losing his arm and Harry replacing it had injected an abundance of joy into him and it bled through into his teaching. His classes were soon a favourite amongst the students of the three schools.

Soon the end of the year approached and with it the final task. A maze littered with various traps and creatures with the Tri-Wizard Cup at the end.

But the Champions had a plan. Actually Cedric had the plan and the others had agreed to it. It was time to end this farce of a tournament the quickest way possible.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the final task of this farce known as the Tri-Wizard Tournament." Xander announced. Bagman was sulking in the corner having been told he would not be doing the announcing.

"The Idiots That Be have decided that our Champions would traverse this maze of twelve foot high hedges. They didn't take into account that no one would be able to see anything." Xander glared at Crouch and Bagman who glared back.

"But our good friends from France have again provided us with cameras with which to watch. We have cameras over the maze." He indicated the various flying carpets hovering above. "And our Champions have agreed to wear cameras mounted on headbands… except Harry who is likely to blow his up if he uses too much power." This got a chuckle from the spectators who by now were all aware of what the Boy-Who-Lived could do.

"The Champions have asked to enter the maze together, and, considering the cock-ups of the previous tasks, we are allowing it… well, most of us are." Crouch was livid, but Xander was all for annoying the man. He was sure he was party to his sons escape from Azkaban, but the Ministry was protecting him.

"So… that's it. Champions, in your own time." Xander said as he stepped off the podium and shot into the sky to join the others who would be monitoring the task.

"Right, we all remember the plan?" Cedric asked they quickly huddled up.

"Cedric, even Gabrielle remembers the plan." Fleur scoffed.

"I'm fairly certain Neville's toad remembers the plan." Harry added.

Cedric just scowled and turned to Viktor who was trying not to laugh. "Got anything to add?" He asked mildly irritated.

Viktor's face fell quickly into a serious expression. "Vhat vas the plan again?"

Cedric looked ready to strangle Viktor but suddenly realised the crowd could see and hear them as they were laughing at their antics.

Cedric just sighed and marched over the starting line as the others trailed behind him.

"And they are off ladies and gentlemen." Bagman began. "Surely we'll see some spectacular stuff tonight."

Xander had not wanted to commentate so he had allowed Bagman to handle that aspect. He still didn't like or trust the man.

"Does anyone else find it weird that in a world full of supposedly powerful wizards, they seem to find a small group of teenagers spectacular?" Harry asked.

"He's English Harry. He's never seen a volcano erupt, dragons in full flight, men on the moon or anything else like that." Fleur said dismissively.

"Right, thanks for that Fleur." Cedric said a little snidely but without malice. "Maybe next year Headmaster Harris can set you up with a new class, 'Life Outside Britain'."

Unfortunately for Fleur, Xander thought that was an excellent idea and had Hermione write that one down.

"Shall ve begin, or spend some more time chatting a foot over the starting line?" Viktor asked.

Cedric drew his wand and cast the Point Me spell. He held it out to for Harry to see. Harry lined up his diamond hand along the wand and then adjusted it to the left by a few degrees.

"Everybody take a step back." Harry warned.

From Harry's hand a red beam exploded forward blasting through the first hedge, the second hedge, the third hedge and further before the forest could be seen beyond. Cedric tapped Harry's shoulder and the beam stopped.

The four champions peered through the tunnel Harry had carved through the maze. Several hedges away a blast-ended skrewt was seen collapsing to the floor with a familiar hole through its body.

There was silence amongst the crowds.

"Oh now that's just not Quidditch!" Bagman half whined.

Harry and the others started heading through the holes in the hedges, occasionally there would be a trap such as Devil's Snare, which was quickly incinerated.

"Hold up." Harry said coming to an abrupt halt in front of an area of white mist. "There is a lot of magic in this section."

"Go around?" Cedric asked.

"I can't see the edges."

"Under?" Viktor asked.

"I can't tell if it goes underground, but it seems to be moving through the leaves of the hedges." Harry mused.

Viktor crouched on the ground and conjured a rope. He tied one end around his waist and handed the other to Cedric.

"I vill go in, if I have trouble, pull me out."

Cedric nodded and wrapped the end around his arm.

Viktor took a deep breath and walked slowly into the mist. The second he did, he found himself disorientated. He had no idea which way was up.

"It is a Confundus Field!" He called over his shoulder.

Durmstrang included survival training in its curriculum, this meant learning how to survive without magic and survive in hostile magical environments. Viktor knew that if he kept putting one foot in front of the other he would emerge on the other side.

It was slow going, but five minutes later and he was through. Fleur conjured a 6 foot pole that Harry embedded into the ground and Cedric tied the rope to it. Then they each grabbed the rope and used it to guide them through.

"Gabrielle would have loved that. She often goes on the rides at the magical theme parks that involve being confounded like that. I hate them." Fleur shuddered.

"What's a 'theme park'?"

"Oh Cedric. You poor deluded Brit." Fleur smirked.

"Hey!" Harry objected. Viktor was just snickering away.

"During the summer your family and Cho along with Viktor and his family can come with mine and Harry's family to Canada. We'll show you the true wonders of the wizarding world." Fleur said as she began leading the way through the hedges.

"Do they have dragon preserves there?" Harry asked excitedly.

"Not exactly, but there are dragon colonies."

"Romania is the only preserve in Europe. Most of the wor-"

"HALT!" Viktor was rudely interrupted by a huge sphinx.

"Hey! I was listening to him!" Harry protested.

Fleur and Viktor were quickly pulling Cedric and Harry back, they knew just how dangerous they could be.

"If you wish to pass you must answer my riddle. Answer correctly and I will move aside. Answer incorrectly and I will attack. Walk away and I will do nothing."

"A riddle? You mean like what creature walks on four legs in the morning, two during the day and three at night? Man?" Harry asked furrowing his brow.

The sphinx was shocked. "You know one of my riddles?"

"Everyone knows that riddle!" Harry stated with a roll of his eyes.

The sphinx huffed. "Regardless, I have many more. The offer stands."

At this point Cedric stepped forward.

"Ah, you wish to test your wits, young one?" The sphinx asked with a strong whiff of superiority.

"Erm… no. I have a counter offer." Cedric grinned causing the sphinx to frown and deflate slightly. "You stand aside and we pass peacefully. You attack and… well, you see this huge hole in the maze, and the dead skrewt down the end there?" He asked pointing through the hedge as the sphinx twisted its neck to see where Cedric pointed.

"Well, Harry did that… you attack and you'll be lucky if that's all that happens." Cedric shrugged with an impish grin.

Back in the stands the crowd waited with baited breath as they braced themselves for untold carnage. Xander on the other hand was laughing his arse off.

The sphinx turned to look at the young boy who claimed the smaller boy had caused such devastation.

"This child has that much power?" It asked sceptically.

Cedric turned to Harry. "A little demonstration."

Harry gestured for the others to gather around. "Everybody shield your eyes… spectators too, dad you have thirty seconds before I light this place up." He whispered.

Back in the stands, Xander teleported to the podium. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please cover your eyes. Harry is about to perform a Lumos spell at strength. The first time he did this he literally blinded everyone in the room until the school healer could fix us." Xander then buried his eyes in the crook of his arm whilst most of the Hogwarts did as well, the other spectators followed suit, there were a few who where stupid enough not to.

"I call your bluff young travellers." The sphinx snarled as it prepared to attack.

Seeing the other Champions cover their eyes tightly Harry raised his diamond hand letting his power flow through it and lighting up the entire grounds of Hogwarts.

"Clear." Harry stated loudly.

"What have you done?" The sphinx demanded. "Why is it black as night?"

"Harry just blinded you. I guess someone will be along later to fix your eyes." Cedric said as he strolled past the disorientated sphinx.

At this point the sphinx began to curse in various languages. Xander cut the audio temporarily, the stands were filled with children after all.

Eventually, after passing through several empty passages in the maze, Xander turned the sound back on. They had reached the fallen skrewt and were working together to levitate it out of the way, Harry was sure he could hear Hagrid bawling his eyes out from the stands. They were now within 100 meters of the centre of the maze.

The final stretch was uneventful, aside from an Acromantula that Viktor casually banished with his wand. They found themselves standing in front of the Tri-Wizard Cup.

"I vonder vhat vould happen if four Champions vere to touch it at vonce?" Vikor mused.

"I don't think any of us should touch it." Harry frowned. "I think there is teleportation magic on that thing."

"Maybe it is supposed to take us out of the maze." Fleur offered.

"I refuse to touch anything that will take me somewhere I don't know." Harry said with a hint of defensiveness that caused Fleur to pull him into a hug.

"The task vas only to get to the cup. Nothing about exiting the maze." Viktor mused as he rubbed his chin. "I vould say ve have accomplished this task."

"Agreed." Cedric said as he transfigured a clump of dirt into a box. He attempted to levitate the cup into the box but it wouldn't respond.

"It must have protections on it." Cedric mused, "We can't use magic on it."

Harry just chuckled. "Dad always says that if you can't use magic on something, use it on its environment." He turned to the box Cedric had transfigured and levitated it upside down and over the cup. He then flipped the box so that the cup toppled upside down into the box.

"Hmm, gonna have to remember that." Cedric grinned. "So… we walk back? Or can we get away with teleporting?"

"We teleport. As Viktor stated, we have accomplished the task." Fleur said decisively.

"Harry, would you do the honours?" Cedric asked.

Harry just shrugged and they found themselves standing back at the entrance to the maze.

"But- but- but-" Bagman seemed to be stuck in a stunned loop for some reason so Xander shoved him off the stage.

"Congratulations Champions!" Xander announced as he began clapping. Fortunately the students of the three schools caught on quick and joined in which eventually dragged in the various adults.

"WAIT! STOP!" The crowd quickly quieted as Crouch stormed down to the pitch with a Sonorous on. "The tournament is not over until one of the Champions holds the cup in his hand."

"Or hers!" Fleur said indignantly, but she was summarily ignored by Crouch.

"There are charms of some sort on the cup." Harry said quietly. "Transportation charms."

"There is no such thing!" Crouch spat. "Perhaps you should leave such speculations to those wiser than you."

Harry and the Champions bristled at this but Xander just smirked and vanished.

"Well? Are you going to pick it up?" Crouch demanded.

The four Champions exchanged a look. "No!" They chorused.

Crouch looked ready to bust a vein when Xander returned with Professor Flitwick.

"Ok Filius, Harry says there are transportation charms on the cup, Crouch denies it and has basically insulted Harry by saying he is too young to understand these things." Xander scowled.

"Preposterous!" Filius squeaked indignantly causing Crouch to smirk smugly. "If there is one type of charm that young Harry should be intimately familiar with by now, it is transportation charms. You do remember what happened to him the last time he encountered one… don't you?" He demanded as he rounded on Crouch causing the man to back up a step in shock.

"I- Yes! I recall the boys insane claims that You-Know-Who is back! There is absolutely no evidence to support that."

"What about the dead Death Eaters?" Cedric demanded angrily as he stepped slightly in front of Harry, shielding him.

"Those poor men were upstanding citizens who obviously thought Potter was in trouble and tried to lend aid… look what that got them!"

"Very well, if you are so insistent that Lord Gryffindor is wrong, prove it!" Filius said as he levitated the box over. "Take the cup yourself!"

Crouch sputtered for a second before he recovered. "Only a Champion can touch the cup before the task ends!"

"Devils snare, a Sphinx, an Acromantula and a creature vhich spouts fire… and that vas vhat ve encountered on our short cut… vhat vould you do if ve all died? Who vould touch the cup then?" Viktor demanded heatedly.

Crouch seemed to struggle with a response for a few seconds before he visibly calmed himself.

"Quite right Mr. Krum." He said politely. "I shall just apply the counter-charm." He said as he drew his wand.

Quick as a snake he sent green light hurtling towards Harry, but Cedric jumped at Harry tackling him to the ground and taking the curse in the back. Screams echoed throughout the stands.

Xander immediately began throwing up conjured slabs of metal between the Champions and Crouch.

Harry was under an inert Cedric who he pushed off of him quickly. Harry was intimately familiar with the green curse. He saw it in many of his nightmares since the Dementors had shown him the death of his mother. A quick check of Cedric's jugular and the lack of pulse confirmed Harry's fears. Cedric was struck by the Avada Kadavra.

Harry froze. He had lost so much. His mother, his father, his childhood, his hand… and now his friend. He snarled, a hint of his dragon sounding through. He snapped his head to Viktor and Fleur who was just standing there staring at him and Cedric in shock. Behind him he could see Xander was engaged in a fight with several other wizards, the occasional green curse being cast.

"Help Dad!" He ordered sharply. "NOW!" He roared when neither moved.

With Xander now having reinforcements, Harry turned back to Cedric's body. As far as Harry was concerned, nothing was absolute. Not even death. Just ask Xander and Joyce.

Harry immediately began CPR. He would have appreciated a second pair of hands and even a little phoenix help, but they were hopefully helping Xander by now.

Since Harry had met Xander, he had gained two mothers, a new father, some of his childhood and the power and ability to do many wondrous things.

Harry kept breathing air into his lungs and pumping Cedric's heart.

Well now he was going to make sure he kept his friends. Cedric was well loved in the school, he was capable of being everyone's friend. The school would be devastated at his loss, not to mention his parents and Cho. Cho had been one of the ones who now looked out for Luna in Ravenclaw since Penelope had graduated, not to mention all the other new intakes. Harry was sure that Cedric wouldn't go out with Cho if she was a bad person, and she was always very nice around others, even when Cedric wasn't there. He wouldn't let her down either.

It wasn't working. He kept breathing and pumping, but Cedric remained unresponsive. Harry knew he was running out of time. There was one last thing that Dan had taught them that might work. Electric shock.

Harry had seconds to figure out how to generate an electric shock. He held up his diamond hand and focused magic into it. Behind him the sounds of battle continued, the screams of the crowd were also still going.

The white light of the magic glowed in the palm of his hand. He focused on lightning, what it looked like, how it moved… but most of all he just willed it to be just like lightning.

And then the magic changed, the white glow became tinged with blue and the glow faded as lines of magic began snapping up and down randomly. Soon the entire hand was encompassed with arcing lines of electricity.

Harry used his other hand to vanish Cedric's top and then he placed his hand over Cedric's chest and lightly pushed a small amount of electricity into Cedric.

He checked his pulse. Nothing.

Harry pushed more electricity, this time for a fraction longer.

He checked again. Nothing… but then a faint almost indefinable pulse.

Harry tuned his eyesight into the magic and could see Cedric's core beginning to glow. Harry checked Cedric's breathing but there was nothing. He quickly began to repeat CPR for a few rounds and then checked the pulse.

Nothing. Harry pulsed a fair bit more electricity into Cedric, he checked the pulse.

Stronger, gaining speed.

Cedric's chest began to rise and fall.

Cedric was finally breathing on his own. His body lived. Harry only hoped that his soul had also returned. The Killing Curse was said to rip the soul from the body. It said nothing about destroying it. Hopefully the soul hadn't gone too far before Harry had revived his body.

Harry vanished from Cedric's side and returned with Dan and Emma who were a little disorientated having just been trying to help keep the pupils they had sat with calm.

"Cedric was hit with the Avada Kedavra I used CPR and electricity and he is now breathing, but I don't know if he will be ok. Stay with him." Harry ordered.

Harry took a few steps back and conjured a wall. A wall of diamond, he just hoped it would protect the three of them.

He turned to look at the battle. He could now see why it hadn't ended already. Crouch had been joined by hidden Death Eaters. They wore robes and masks and they had entrenched themselves into the stands. Some were firing disruptive curses into the crowd, distracting the Aurors, Goblins and Werewolves on duty, the rest were attacking Xander, the other judges and the Champions.

Harry could see that Xander was trying to go for the kill. He had a gun in one hand and was casting with the other. The Death Eaters had taken a page out of Xander's tactics book and conjured walls of granite.

They clearly hadn't been able to master conjuring metal which didn't explode when hit with a Reductor or Killing Curse.

But Xander could only conjure one wall.

Harry knew they needed at least some of them alive to root out the problem. He knew of one sure-fire way to do that.

Xander had reacted automatically to Crouch's curse by throwing up a wall of metal between Crouch and the Champions, but the initial volley had slipped past and Cedric had bourn the brunt. Xander was now crouched behind the wall casting curses as Crouch defended.

He absently heard Harry giving the other Champions orders to help him.

"Both of you, help with the evacuation of the stands to the Lupine Academy." Xander ordered.

As the two Champions teleported away Xander wondered if he had made a mistake as more curses began raining down on him from multiple sources. A quick peak showed at least ten Death Eaters. Crouch was really showing his true colours.

He drew his right gun and began taking shots, he'd already proven that wizarding shields were useless against non-magical projectile weapons. Unfortunately the wizards had the same idea as he did and had conjured walls of granite after he managed a lucky headshot on one Death Eater.

Xander's main worry was where his reinforcements were. Teams were assigned to the evacuation of everyone to the Lupine Academy, but there were also battle teams tasked with dealing with trouble. Considering they consisted of goblins and werewolves that were obviously loyal to Xander, the fact that they had not arrived was a very bad thing.

As a result, Xander was trapped behind his conjured wall. He had thought about taking a page from Harry's book and phasing beneath them, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to try that without practice.

"OI! YOU INBRED HICKS! LOOK OVER HERE!"

Xander at times regretted showing Harry American movies and television. He quickly turned and saw a pair of yellow glowing eyes.

The next thing he knew he was looking into the emerald eyes of his son.

"Dad, we need to work on your tactics.

Crouch Senior had been awaiting the return of the Dark Lord for years. He had spent the entirety of the first war as a sleeper agent, unable to aid the Greatest Wizard of all time.

His foolish son had gotten himself captured in an act of recklessness and Crouch Senior had had to sacrifice his wife to free his son from Azkaban. It was no big loss as she had served her purpose by giving him an heir.

But then the signs that the Dark Lord was returning appeared. He had sent his son to redeem himself by helping to revive Lord Voldemort. Soon the Purebloods would reign as they should. They would wipe the half-bloods, mudbloods and muggles from the face of the Earth and Pureblood wizards would live free and openly as was their right. No longer would they hide in alleys whilst muggles lived in ornate palaces.

But his son had gotten himself killed by that half-breed Potter. Now he would need a new wife to sire a new heir.

With the resurrection of the Dark Lord, Crouch was finally given orders to activate him from his sleeper status. He was instructed to turn the Tri-Wizard Cup into a Portkey that would perform the same actions the menu portkey did to Potter. Knock out any who touched it and transport them to the feet of the Dark Lord where he would kill them and then parade their bodies through the streets as message to those who would defy him.

But the Potter brat had somehow seen the Portkey magic and they had refused to touch it. So the backup plan was initiated. Crouch would kill Potter and all the Champions signalling hidden Death Eaters and in the stands and guards to begin killing the spectators and children.

But the boy, Diggory, had intercepted his killing curse and that fool Harris had conjured some form of metal that refused to be destroyed. His own support team had arrived and he could hear screams in the crowd as the other team wrecked their own havoc.

Harris' superior conjured wall meant that they were unable to gain ground on the single defender. They couldn't even get pot-shots at Potter, he was behind his own wall doing something to the dead body of Diggory. Crouch only hoped that the boy wasn't also a Necromancer, he didn't need to have to fight the dead as well.

The battle came to a screeching halt as they were taunted by Potter and then – nothing.

Harry's solution to the fight was summed up in one word: Slinky. He had cast a disillusionment charm on the giant basilisk… but that had failed, basilisks being somewhat immune to these spells. So he had conjured a large cloth, disillusioned one side and used that to conceal the snake.

The pair had snuck up on the battle and Harry had gotten their attention, the snake then released a mild version of the stare, petrifying Death Eaters… and Xander… and any pour soul who happened to glance at the basilisk… which was several hundred people in the stands. But the panic had ceased, there were sounds of fighting somewhere which encouraged Harry to wake Xander.

"My tactics are fine." Xander groused in response.

"There is fighting happening somewhere." Harry explained as he ignored Xander's defensiveness.

"Fine, O' Master of Tactics… what do you suggest?" Xander smirked.

Harry had already planned this out. "Same as the World Cup. You play Death's Hand and I'll play Death." He said seriously.

The first thing the Death Eaters attacking the crowds noticed was that their targets were starting to vanish in groups.

They would be hurling curses into a small crowd one second, the next there was an empty area of space.

Eventually there were no more targets.

The Death Eaters looked around cautiously… and then jumped as thunder echoed through the stands.

A voice sounded menacingly.

"You were warned."

They began searching for the source of the voice.

"You were warned about using my name and delivering my gift when it was not your right." The voice hissed angrily.

"And so you will suffer for your crimes, and when I am satisfied you have suffered enough, I may grant you my gift."

One of the Death Eaters began to cry out, the others turned to see him and noticed he was sinking beneath the ground. More cries were heard as the others found they were also sinking.

Some of them tried to activate portkeys only to find themselves bounced back within the wards with their feet and legs embedded with dirt. Others tried to apparate only to splinch themselves and again be bounced back.

And then the figure appeared. Cloaked and hooded with yellow eyes that glowed from the darkness of his concealed face. His arms were close to his body, but suddenly a rod of green light, that appeared almost solid, appeared before him. The figure began marching slowly through the crippled and trapped Death Eaters, calmly wielding the rod of light as a sword slicing the hands of the Death Eaters off. Screams of terror and agony echoed through the empty stands, but the figure marched on, exacting his price for the actions of the Death Eaters.

As the Death Eaters lay screaming in fear and agony the dark spectre of Death's Hand vanished.

*Chapter 33*: Chapter 33  
Remus Lupin was being run ragged as he desperately threw orders around to the various werewolf teams designed to take charge in the event of a Hogwarts evacuation to the Lunar Village.

He had first received a call from Minerva informing him that an attack had occurred and to expect refugees.

In any normal year this would mean an influx of approximately three to four hundred pupils and staff.

But this was not a normal year. This was the year that the Tri-wizard Tournament was being held. The year that Hogwarts was playing host to two other schools, two exceptionally large schools. The magical population of Bulgaria and France far exceeded that of Britain. Without Pureblood inbreeding and the persecution of non-Purebloods, their magical families had thrived. Bulgaria managed to educate around one thousand students a year whilst France held three thousand. A select fifty students from each school were receiving their education for a year at Hogwarts.

To compound the issue, this was the day of the Final Task. Hundreds of dignitaries from around the world had assembled along with the parents and families of the various pupils. Combined with the missing thousands of students transported over for the tasks themselves.

Remus Lupin's tiny werewolf village which housed a maximum of three hundred individuals was having to cope with over five thousand refugees fleeing from the panic at Hogwarts.

Fortunately he was backed up by an army of Goblins and Centaurs.

At first the refugees had arrived in groups of fours and fives as the Champions and Xander's family and friends began teleporting people in. Soon Joyce was able to confirm that the castle itself was secure so to alleviate some of the strain, all Hogwarts pupils were teleported to their house common rooms, the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang where teleported to the Great Hall along with their teachers.

This left Remus to deal with around a thousand individuals consisting of parents, dignitaries and various politicians. Most of whom hated werewolves with an irrational fervour.

"Stay away you mangy freaks!"

It wasn't the worst thing they had been called but this particular individual was definitely the loudest. Cornelius Fudge rode again.

"Minister Fudge, we merely trying render aid to those who need it." Remus reasoned.

"You will not approach any of these good people you cursed monster!"

"Fudge, you are truly an imbecile." The Bulgarian Minister sighed.

"Headmaster Lupin, I am fully aware of just how peaceful you and your village are. But perhaps it would be safer if you could point us in the direction of a safe clearing where those that fear you can wait."

"Thank you sir." Remus said with a slight bow. "The entire forest is safe. But I recommend against leaving as it is quite large and easy to get lost in. We have a greater advantage with our acute sense of smell and Centaurs are expert trackers."

"Then we will leave and you will come and find us when the danger has passed." Fudge ordered.

"I'm afraid I have been given orders not to leave the village. We have all been confined to the village until Lord Hogwarts says it is safe for us."

"Our king has also stated that anyone who leaves the village this night is forbidden from returning and will find no aid in the forest." A well dressed Goblin stated as he stepped from amongst the Werewolves.

"Lord Ragnok." Remus said with a bow.

Ragnok was the highest ranking Goblin after Xander and his family. He was also the previous Goblin leader prior to Xander defeating him in combat. It was an honour for a goblin to serve a skilled warrior like Lord Hogwarts and Ragnok brought much honour to his clan by holding his position in the king's court.

"We don't need Goblins or Werewolves to help us! We are wizards!" Fudge declared as he began marching towards the edge of the village away from Hogwarts and the fighting.

"I wouldn't go that way, Minister." Ragnok stated calmly. "The only way to exit the forest in that direction is by swimming ten miles out to sea where the anti-portkey and anti-apparition wards end. Your only exit is through Hogwarts or portkeys made by Lord Hogwarts and his family."

"The Bulgarian people are happy to accept the hospitality of the Lunar Village." The Bulgarian Minister stated with a smile. "Ve recommend everyone else do the same. I can not see Lord Hogvarts taking too long vith only twenty vizards!"

"Twenty? Are you blind? There were at least a hundred!" Fudged exclaimed.

"Actually, it wasn't twenty, it was nineteen." Xander smirked as he appeared next to Remus.

"YOU!" Fudge screeched with rage. "You couldn't keep us safe for even a few hours! You will suffer the consequences!"

Fudges lackeys were scowling and nodding. But the foreign dignitaries were scowling for another reason.

"Vas it not your own Head of Magical Cooperation who tried to murder our Champions?" The Bulgarian Minister snarled angrily. Lord Hogwarts was clearly a good man, he had even provided much needed aid for their werewolf communities and begun to open the eyes of the French to their irrational fears.

"Not to mention zat it was Lord 'ogwarts' people 'o rescued us and bought us to safety." The French Minister added.

"I see he has blinded you as well!" Fudge sneered. "First he brings panic to our country with tales of the return of the Dark Lord and now he seeks to undermine the British Ministry by staging these coups and attacks against our people!

"Things will be very different this coming summer. Mark my words. There will be precautions put in place."

"Fudge… shut up and get off my property." Xander said dismissively waving his hand causing him and his lackeys to vanish.

"Will zere be trouble for you, Lord Xander?" The French Minister asked worriedly.

"Possibly, but I have plans to deal with Fudge's plans." Xander said. "And I really didn't mean to sound so cryptic." He sighed.

"Wakey wakey!"

He had a vicious headache. It was so vicious it had actually been a part of his dreams. This person trying to wake him up was very impolite. He would be having words with that fool of a House Elf for letti-

"Blurgh! *cough* *cough* *splutter*"

Thoughts of future actions were interrupted as water suddenly went up various holes required for breathing.

Crouch shook his head to clear the water and found himself in a cave with bars on the entrance but no door or gate. On the other side of the bars were Bones, Alain Delacour, Hogwarts and Potter. The events of the previous night came quickly back to him. He smirked inwardly as he recalled he made at least one triumph for his Master.

"Why am I here?" He demanded pompously.

"Because you tried to kill hundreds of people last night." Delacour snarled.

"Preposterous! I must have been under the Imperious." He declared. "Release me from this hole. I demand to be handed into the custody of the British Ministry of Magic."

"You committed crimes on sovereign territory against foreign diplomats." Xander said calmly. "Bottom line… not even I can claim sole jurisdiction. Now, open wide and say 'ah'." He grinned as he magically pulled Crouch towards the bars of the cave a bottle of clear liquid in his hands.

Crouch began to panic and futilely tried to scurry backwards. He was soon in arms reach and Xander grabbed his jaw and pried it open to poor the veritiserum in.

Amelia began the interrogation.

"How long have you been working for Lord Voldemort otherwise known as Tom Marvolo Riddle?"

"Since we both graduated and he laid out his plans."

"You aided him during the last war?"

"I kept the Aurors from receiving word in time and provided him with locations and details of weak targets."

"Who was responsible for Lord Potter's name coming out of the Goblet of Fire?"

"I was."

"How did you achieve this?"

"I placed the brats name on a piece of parchment with no school and cast a Confundus Charm on the Goblet."

"Were you responsible for causing the Grindylow to attack Fleur Delacour?" Xander interrupted, knowing the serum would wear off soon.

"Yes."

"Why did you do it?"

"To ensure the Potter brat would win the tournament and face the might of the Dark Lord."

"Were you responsible for Lord Potter being abducted from the Three Broomsticks?"

"No."

"Did you know it would happen?"

"No." Crouch began to smirk as the effects began to wear off. "But I wish I had been there to see it, my son redeemed himself for getting caught all those years ago."

Without a word Xander drew and ignited his lightsaber and stepped into the cave phasing through the bars and without hesitation sliced Barty Crouch senior's hands off, much to the shock of the other two adults in the room. Harry tucked his diamond hand into his cloak protectively.

Crouch screamed in shock and pain until Xander stunned him.

"Wh-wh-wh"

"Why in Merlin's name did you do that?" Amelia asked as Alain tried to regain speech.

"Any doubt he is guilty?" Xander asked emotionlessly.

"Of course not, we all heard him."

"He's dead. One way or another, he will die. The only question is who will claim his execution. Me, Harry, Cedric or Amos Diggory." Xander explained calmly. "I took his hands to ensure he couldn't harm anyone."

"That… that's a little cruel Xander. Even for you." Amelia frowned. "I have no… objections to his humane execution, but cutting off his hands is far too cruel and barbaric."

"The ICW will be in uproar." Alain finally contributed. "They will not stand for the abuse of prisoners, especially like this."

Xander appeared unmoved as he hid behind a passive face. But he noticed Harry back in the corner of the corridor staring at the severed hands and hiding his own artificial appendage.

"Harry? What do you think?" He asked calmly.

Harry seemed to get smaller as if afraid of what Xander might do to him if he answered wrong.

Alain smacked Xander's shoulder sharply. "You are scaring the boy!" He hissed angrily.

Xander was not pleased by that fact, a fact he could plainly see was true by the fear on Harry's face. But Xander had trapped himself behind an impassive face and his emotions were tightly bottled lest his anger hurt those around him.

"My Lord? Is everything ok? We feel a disturbance moving up towards the… My Lord what is wrong?" Ragnok asked as he came rushing in, only to stop as he realised the disturbance appeared to emanating from this area.

"Lord Ragnok, it appears that Lord Xander has inadvertently scared Lord Harry." Amelia explained respectfully.

"How would he achieve that?" Ragnok asked doubtfully. Although it was clear that Harry was petrified, Ragnok could not conceive of a scenario that would cause Prince Harry to fear his father, they loved each other far too much.

"We were questioning Barty Crouch, on the conclusion of the interrogation, Lord Hogwarts requested my wand and without warning sliced off the prisoners hands." Alain explained heatedly. "Needless such an act has had an effect on Lord Gryffindor."

And now Ragnok saw the problem. As much as the Goblin Nation respected and loved Xander and Harry, they often forgot that they were not Goblins. Although Xander came pretty close at times. Coupled with the horrors that Harry had been forced to endure, horrors that would scar a Goblin, it was understandable why this would affect the Goblin Prince.

Ragnok cautiously approached Xander.

"My Lord… Xander." He began, switching to informal address as he felt the situation called for it. "You should return to your wives. You seem stuck in a form of battle state. Let your wives help you resume your usual demeanour and allow me to deal with your son. I will have Minerva come quickly to aid me."

"Take me with you so I can explain it for you." Amelia instructed as she grabbed Xander's hand.

"I will remain here to offer my support for Harry, with Lord Ragnok's consent."

Ragnok nodded in agreement of Alain's suggestion.

Xander blinked slowly. Then nodded before vanishing.

Ragnok sighed and turned to Harry who was now sitting back in a corner as far as he could.

"Harry, you should know as well as I do that your father would kill himself before he knowingly harmed a hair on your head." He said softly as he lowered himself to sit opposite Harry. Alain stayed back, allowing the Head Goblin to handle things. "Now… do you honestly fear Xander?"

Harry shook his head vigorously.

"But…?"

"He cut off his hands!" Harry whispered harshly. "He wasn't even doing anything… couldn't even do anything… and he just… cut them off!"

"You… disagree… with his actions?" Ragnok asked carefully.

Harry just shrugged.

A larger shadow fell upon them as Alain joined them on the floor, folding his legs under him.

"Do you perhaps believe he went to far?" Alain suggested. "You were where when he took the hands of the Death Eaters on the grounds of Hogwarts, yes? Perhaps it is because then they were in combat, but here he was a helpless prisoner?"

Harry ducked his head tightly against his chest. Both Ragnok and Alain shared a look of understanding.

"Harry, you are my Prince and your father is my King. The whole of the Goblin Nation expects you to challenge your father for our leadership at some point, and we look forward to it.

"That being said, if you believe someone… even your father, has crossed a line or is pushing a line, you must speak up. No one is punished for having a belief or opinion- or rather, no one should be punished for having a belief or opinion."

"Lord Ragnok is right." Alain concurred. "Even bigots are not punished for their beliefs. Only if they decide to impose their beliefs on those who do not share them. You heard Amelia and myself challenge your father regarding his actions, you should feel free to do the same. Xander himself expects it."

Harry looked very doubtful about what they were saying.

"Harry, who do you think will set the rules when Xander and your parents are gone? When Alain and I are dead and buried? It is the next generation. You! That is why you start to voice your opinions now, so that you can gain experience whilst we are there to aid and guide you." Ragnok tried, his speech imploring.

Harry sagged, he understood what they were saying. He knew what would be expected of him with regards to the Goblin Throne and being an adult in general. Dan and Emma had taught them about voting and how it was a responsibility.

But Xander was not just his Dad. He was his father. The man he looked up to and respected. Harry wasn't worried about Xander hurting him. But Xander's actions had scared him severely. Harry didn't know how to say this to his father. How to express the fact that he thought there was something wrong with what Xander had done. He had never had much respect for authority until Joyce came along, somewhere along the way Xander had become Harry's hero and most respected person in his life. As well as the most loved. After Hermione.

Seconds past, then a minute. Alain and Ragnok just sat there with Harry, they could see him thinking, both men were fathers and knew when to let the children work things out themselves.

They were soon interrupted by Xander being teleported in by Fleur, Nym and Minerva.

"Fix this!" Nym ordered him as she pointed at Harry.

Alain and Ragnok slowly stood and made their way to the newly arrived ladies. Xander slowly and very sheepishly made his way over to Harry and took a seat on the floor in front of him that the other two males had just vacated.

"I'm sorry Harry." Xander sighed. "I didn't mean to go all Terminator on you."

Harry just ducked his head.

"Eyes up Harry." Xander ordered sharply. "What I did today was wrong on certain levels. But you need to learn to stand up to people. Especially me.

"One day I might be the one to nearly make a huge mistake. You might be the one who has to stop me, maybe by taking, physical intervention or even plain old killing me."

Harry's head shot up in shock at that.

"Remember my stories about Willow? They weren't made up stories. I can show you my memories, even the best of us can go bad. We need our friends and family to keep us grounded."

Harry nodded.

"Good. Now, what do you think I did wrong?"

"Hurt and tortured a helpless man." Harry said quietly.

"Yeah. That was bad. I wasn't being malicious in my intent. I was merely trying to ensure he would not be any form of threat. But I should not of removed his hands whilst he was awake like I did." Xander said somewhat shamed.

"Ok, the bottom line is that he is going to die. But I will have a healer brought in so he isn't in any pain." Xander said. "And Harry, I am very sorry for what I did. I very much crossed the line."

Harry nodded again. "Could I give him temporary hands?" Harry asked nervously.

Xander was very surprised by Harry's request. This was the man who had only hours earlier tried to kill him and successfully (albeit temporarily) killed Cedric. It was a true testament to the size of his sons heart.

"Tell you what. We'll call in Poppy and her colleagues and you can use him as a test subject to teach them."

BOY-WHO-LIVED CREATES BOY-WHO-LIVED?

In an act of true horror the final task of the famous Tri-Wizard Tournament being held at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the British Ministry Head for the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Bartimeus Crouch Senior, surprised all present when he viciously, without warning or provocation, cast the Killing Curse at Harry Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived and Tri-Wizard Champion.

In an act of true selflessness and heroism, fellow Champion, Cedric Diggory, jumped in front of the Killing curse taking the full brunt on his back. It appears he died instantly as the others fought back and men in black robes and masks began attacking innocent spectators.

But this reporter was present and witnessed something truly amazing and inspiring. Instead of leaving the body of Cedric Diggory and joining the fight, Harry Potter immediately began performing Muggle resuscitation procedures. For those who are not aware, this involves alternately breathing into the mouth of the victim and compressing the chest to attempt to restart the lungs and heart.

Potter maintained his actions for a good two minutes before casting some sort of spell that looked like lightning and caused Diggory's body to arch off the ground. After performing this several times, the unbelievable happened…

Cedric Diggory became the second person to survive the Killing Curse as he lived once again.

Unfortunately I was unable to see more as I was transported to safety away from the fight that was occurring around us.

But what does this mean for the wizarding world? Is the Killing Curse no longer undefeatable or does Harry Potter have some power over death? Hopefully we will have answers soon, one thing we can be sure of: The Boy-Who-Lived has once again given us hope, perhaps now we should call him 'The Boy-Who-Saves'.

Fudge slammed the paper down in disgust. He wouldn't have cared so much if it was a foreign paper, but this was the Prophet! He would have to speak with the editor, convince him to see that Potter and his Father were not the angels they made themselves out to be.

Harry groaned and began banging his head on the breakfast table as Hermione finished reading the article out loud. His friends all snickering around him. The younger students looked on in awe though.

Harry's head shot up, there was a gleam in his eye and a grin on his face.

"Cedric, if you agree to take the publicity for this I'll agree to teach healers how to create the electricity that got you… running again."

Cedric frowned. "Why would they be interested in me?"

"Didn't you hear, Ced?" Fred asked with a grin.

"You're the new 'Boy-Who-Lived'!" George continued.

"It would be very helpful." Hermione added. "We all know that Harry hates attention, and you did sign up for a very public tournament which promised 'Eternal Glory'."

Cedric shifted uncomfortably. "Actually I just liked the idea of the contest, I checked and couldn't find much on previous champions so I figured it would be a very limited amount of 'Eternal Glory'."

"Pleeeaaase Cedric!" Harry pleaded.

Cho meanwhile was looking between the two males, when she whispered in Cedric's ear.

Cedric suddenly had a very goofy looking grin on his face as he listened to Cho. The boys looked interested and the girls just giggled.

"Ok, I'll do it. But I refuse to be called the 'Boy-Who-Lived'. I'll have them call me the 'Man-Who-Lived' or I'll never get a job. I'll also try and get them to call you the 'Man-Who-Saved'."

"Oh god, I'd rather just be anonymous." Harry groaned.

"Cho, hurry up and finish, you need to tell us what you said to Ced' in order to make him agree." Tracy ordered.

Cho just blushed. "It wasn't anything like that!" She protested. "I just reminded him of how much he liked my outfit for the Yule Ball and that we would probably be invited to lots of other dances for me to wear new outfits for him."

"My guess is he's more interested in what's under the outfit." Seamus grinned with an eyebrow waggle.

"Ginny, you're closest."

THWACK!

"OW! Merlin woman! What was that for?" Seamus found himself on the receiving end of multiple feminine glares. "Right… sorry." He said shamefaced.

"It's been a very active year." Xander said as he addressed the assembled schools for the leaving feast. "Hopefully some of you have had a good year. Some of us have suffered terribly." He looked at Harry sadly.

"This year has brought with it the worst news possible. Tom Riddle Junior, A.K.A. Lord Voldemort," Xander sneered derisively, "has come back.

"I have been to each of your parents with Professor McGonagall and informed them of the dangers. We have provided each home with an emergency portkey that will bring you straight to a safe house at an undisclosed location in an emergency. Some of your parents weren't interested." He said with a roll of his eyes.

Needless to say that the Pureblood parents didn't believe there was any danger or were probably already signing up for Riddle's cause.

"The train ride home will be a little different this year. Instead you will be travelling home by Floo.

"Next year will likely be filled with plenty of problems. The Ministry has already indicated that it will be interfering, but make no mistake, they can do what they want with your education, but your safety is my domain." Xander told them seriously.

After the Leaving Feast the students gathered outside to say goodbye to their new friends from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Many students left with pen pals and promises to visit. Although it was a given that none of the foreign students would voluntarily set foot in Britain till it was safe.

Viktor was to be the new teacher at Durmstrang, teaching the methods he had learned from Xander and his family. He wasn't permitted to create new teachers but he could make recommendations to Xander and be a part of the approval process. He was also required to get oaths from all students regarding not teaching others.

Fleur was not returning with the other Beauxbatons students. She was a married woman and firmly bonded to Xander. As a Veela this meant she inspired a lot of physical contact… which Nym took joyous advantage of.

Harry and Xander's summer was fully booked, only the last few weeks of August would see them have any rest. Rest was what they sorely needed after the year they had had.

*Chapter 34*: Chapter 34  
Five weeks. Five whole weeks of popping from country to country and meeting to meeting. Harry was now a highly experienced lecturer and orator. Poppy had been with him for most of them, helping him and introducing him to experts in the field (when she wasn't gushing and blushing over her heroes). Harry had successfully taught the Healers how to grow metal limbs. He had even taught them how to combine their magic as an average person could comfortably grow a finger, but it took a lot more power to grow a full limb.

It had been a gradual process where Harry began by teaching small groups of four or five in the British Isles but increasing his class size as he moved East into Europe. Poppy handled the majority of the talking and lecturing, but once Harry began answering questions he quickly forgot his fears as he enjoyed discussing various methods of healing. He learnt far more than he taught.

Harry had nearly caused an International incident when in Australia during his fifth week of touring. He had been bored and snuck out at night, curious about the non-magical side of medicine. He came across the emergency wards first where he observed the doctors and nurses invisibly. He couldn't replace limbs on non-magicals as there was no way to explain a metal limb. But he paid attention to how the drugs worked and what they did.

It was when he came across a young girl who could only be ten years old that he found himself unable to remain an observer. The doctors said she was dying as her kidney was shutting down. She was in a car accident and her other kidney was destroyed.

After ten minutes of hard work the doctor called the time of death and the medics moved away disheartened as unknown to them Harry sat in the corner watching and crying.

But Harry was now the Man-Who-Saved (thank you very much Cedric Diggory!) He cast a Notice-Me-Not charm on the door and examined the body. With his magical sight on he could see that there was still some life in the body. Casting silently and using magic he began vanishing the remains of the destroyed kidney. He then began pouring a trickle of magic into the stem that was left as he simulated CPR with his magic.

Apparently the Canadians had long since developed a spell that would simulate mouth to mouth and chest compressions and it was commonly used by anyone not constrained by the primitive and backwards Magical British Empire. Teaching Harry had been a joy for them.

Harry focused his magic on imagining what the kidney should look like based on the kidney that had failed but not been destroyed. Slowly he could see the tissue begin to grow, the blood was flowing out of the open blood vessels but Harry diligently teleported the blood back into veins. After five long minutes the kidney was whole and well.

Harry turned his attention to the kidney that had failed. Poppy had taught the Champions how to heal bones and various injuries at Viktor's suggestion. So Harry had a fairly good idea how magic healed. He began to focus on the second kidney; he poured the same spell that knitted bones together into the damaged tissue. Harry's theory was… one spell fits all, as magic at the end of the day was just that: magic. In a much shorter time the kidney was healthy.

Deciding to finish the job he began healing the surgical openings the doctors had made as well as the cuts and lacerations from the accident itself. Ten minutes later and a healthy young girl was lying on the bed.

It was time for the moment of truth. Harry turned down the amount of magic he was using on the heart and lungs to invoke circulation and respiration. But the lungs slowed so Harry upped his power.

He hadn't come this far just to make sure she was a pretty body for her funeral. He examined the body again to make sure he hadn't missed anything. That's when he noticed the natural energy and magic that made a person live was still dimming and nearly gone. Harry didn't know if he could fix that. Until he realised he hadn't tried the one thing he was recently famous for.

He pooled a bit of lighting in his diamond hand and touched it to the girl's heart.

He grinned as he saw the magic pulse brighter. It was working, so he did it again but held it a little longer.

The magic grew brighter to the level that the average non-magical should have… but slightly brighter. She looked a bit on the level of Argus Filch. Harry worried that he might have accidentally created a squib somehow.

But the magic dimmed back to regular levels. Harry removed the Notice-Me-Not Charm and cast an enervate just as a doctor came storming in.

"IN HERE!" He shouted out as he rushed to the side of the wakening child.

"How come we couldn't find it before, it's obvious now where it was coming from." Another doctor scowled.

Harry wondered what they were talking about.

"Later, the girls not dead, check her vitals and prepare a sedative, she's waking up and I hate to think how she'll suffer with those open-" The doctor stopped and stared at his patient. There were supposed to be open and exposed sections of kidneys. But now there smooth unblemished skin.

"Terry… wasn't this the car crash victim?"

"Yeah… what the hell happened… she should be dead but… do you think there is a hallucinogen in the air?" The other doctor asked nervously.

"What? And we are all hallucinating the same thing?" The first doctor snorted derisively.

"And you think the alternative is more likely? That this girl was miraculously healed?" Terry argued. "Dammit Corden, I had my hand on that girls kidneys not twenty minutes ago! You yourself declared the T.O.D.!"

Harry cringed as he realised what he had done in healing the girl. Sure he had saved her life, but he had also caused a lot of problems for the doctors. They might think they were going mad or something just as bad.

"It was me, I did it." Harry said quietly as he dropped his invisibility and re-cast the Notice-Me-Not.

Both doctors jumped at the voice.

"You can't be in here lad." The first doctor, Corden said sternly.

"I was here the whole time you were working on her." Harry said with a small smile. "When you… stopped working on her, I tried to heal her. It was my first time trying something like that." Harry admitted.

Neither doctor was entirely sure how to respond to that.

"Are you, by any chance, a patient from the fourth floor?" Terry asked kindly.

"No… what's on the fourth floor?"

"Erm… the er…"

"Ah… the mental patients." Harry chuckled. If Xander or Sirius ever found out about this he'd never live it down. Not that he had any intention of telling them.

"I am a wizard." Harry stated quietly as he showed them his diamond hand and lit it up with electricity. "We are a secret society, but generally peaceful."

"Oh god." Terry moaned. "Won't you get in trouble with the coppers? What about the Statute of Secrecy?"

"You're not a wizard… or a squib." Harry frowned as he examined the doctor's body for a magical core or high levels of magic.

"No, but my sister is a witch."

"Ah… right, well… if you don't tell, I won't tell?" Harry asked sheepishly.

At this point Harry's plans were shattered as two men in uniform robes marched in.

"Excuse us, has anyone seen- oh Merlin it's Harry Potter." The elder man sighed as he saw the young man with a diamond hand.

Harry's world tour of the medical circuit was international news. His face was splashed across all the papers, although Harry refused to do a picture without at least Poppy or Cedric in them. Harry had to go out in disguise or invisibly or he was mobbed, he had never been more grateful for Nym teaching him how to use his metamorphmagus skills.

"You do realise this is a non-magical hospital… right sir?" The younger one asked warily.

"I couldn't sleep and was curious about non-magical medicine. This girl was practically dead… I had to do something!" He argued.

"Wait… I think I have a solution… I come from a first generation family." Terry interrupted before things got out of hand.

"I hope so, otherwise we have a lot of memories to work on." The older one said.

"Only myself and Doctor Corden know this girl is well, Corden is a good man and I can explain the situation well enough for him. It's not unusual for patients to seem dead. We just say that she wasn't dead dead and one of you puts an illusion on her so she looks like she's been in a car crash. We call the nurses back in and you modify their memories so that they think she miraculously started living again but we still had to stabilise her and patch her up. Then you just put an illusion of stitches that will fade after a time… job done."

The two men considered that for a moment. The other option involved clearing memories and changing a lot of paperwork.

"Hate to throw a spanner in your plan, Terry, but… kid, what did you do with her kidneys?" Corden asked hesitantly.

"Merlin… please at least call him Harry… Mr. Potter would be preferable, he's world famous in our community and highly respected." The older man moaned.

"Harry is fine." Harry snickered. "The kidneys… I healed one but had to remove the other and re-grow it."

"You re-grew a kidney… from scratch?" Corden asked sceptically. "This is normal in… your world?" He asked the two men.

"Actually no." The younger one smirked. "But Mr Potter here-"

"Harry."

"Harry – sorry – is known for doing the… impossible… I guess."

"Improbable… nothing is truly impossible… merely improbable." Harry grinned.

"A learned lad, good enough for me." Corden grinned.

What followed was enough to make the younger of the wizarding police turn pale and have to leave. Harry had made the three of them invisible and unnoticed but before the doctors called the nurses in, Corden pointed something out.

"Unless one of us is her consulting doctor, we are going to need to make an incision that will heal naturally."

"Magic will make it look like she was opened up." Terry pointed out.

"But what happens when they do blood work and find discrepancies or try to examine the incision? What about when the girl wakes up and starts scratching… she can't be more than 9 years old."

"Ten actually." Harry said as he made the three visible.

"Unfortunately you are right about the little girl scratching, the illusion will not pass her scrutiny. But as for the rest, I am a qualified Healer and doctor. It is why I am assigned to monitoring hospitals. Just put me down as her consulting doctor and I'll make sure she flies through without trouble." The older cop answered.

After Harry made them invisible again, Terry and Corden gloved up and began making the necessary incisions… at which point the younger cop bolted for the nearest bucket.

Unfortunately he forgot he was invisible and had to obliviate several nurses who had seen vomit spurting from mid-air.

The situation with the girl was sorted fairly easily after that with Terry promising to explain magic and the sort to Corden.

But Harry was another matter. He had broken the International Statute of Secrecy.

He was quickly taken back to where Poppy and he were staying. Xander, Fleur and Nym were training a professor at Beauxbatons to begin teaching Xander's methods. Poppy teleported to Xander and dragged him back in a bath towel.

"Seriously… I have two wives, I'm not looking for a third!" He groused.

"Not now Xander, your son has got himself in trouble – of the legal kind." She added quickly at his sudden growl.

Xander looked around and saw two men in uniform robes and Harry sitting on the sofa in the hotel.

"Harry… I thought we agreed not to conquer the world this year." He said sternly. The younger uniformed man seemed to take Xander seriously until he noticed his older compatriot snickering.

"Good morning sir, I am Officer Dundee and this is Officer McClay… and no I am not related to a guy named Mick." The older officer said with a roll of his eyes as Xander began to open his mouth. "At 1:05am this morning we were called into St. Barnabus' hospital to a report of magic being used. We arrived to find your son openly discussing magic with two doctors. One was already in the know, but the other wasn't.

"That was the small problem. The bigger problem was that Harry had apparently just completely healed and resuscitated a recently deceased girl, he completely repaired and re-grew the girls kidneys."

Xander groaned and slumped into a nearby armchair.

On noticing the Officers staring at the ceiling he quickly crossed his legs and transfigured his towel into some clothes whilst glaring at Poppy.

"Guys, I can understand the mess he caused and we'll gladly pay the fines, but I honestly can't condemn his actions regarding the girl."

Officer McClay looked ready to protest but Xander interrupted.

"Let me explain, in the reality from which his mother and I originate, his mother, Lady Hogwarts died from complications from surgery on a tumour in her brain.

"Harry's best friend's parents, where tortured into insanity by the Crucio. They couldn't be saved and their bodies were… killed, I guess, by a Phoenix."

"My point is, that if Harry can help people, I can't stop or think badly of him. Hell, I'm going to ask him to teach me!"

"I understand, really I do." Dundee said calmly. "I'm a doctor myself and have agreed to take the young girl on as her consultant to ease some of the issues. But we all know what will happen if muggles got wind of magicals."

"Doesn't mean we can't help non-magicals with medicine!" Harry argued.

The four adults looked at him sadly. "Think about it!" Harry said heatedly. "Why not set up specialist hospitals, we let certain non-magical specialists know about the magical world and about the specialist hospitals. When the specialist hospitals get called in they send a healer and recommend a harmless but common treatment and then call them back every few days or weeks and gradually heal them. They'd never know the difference!"

The four adults shared dubious looks.

"It's a noble goal… but a crap plan." Xander sighed. "That said… it is a plan or the start of one."

"One I support as a Healer and Doctor," Dundee nodded, "I recommend hijacking your next speaking engagement. Tomorrow, I believe… or today." He mused as he checked his watch.

"I don't do any speaking!" Harry said a little wild-eyed.

"Ha! I was at the meeting on Monday where you spoke on the Killing Curse and I have booked my seat for today's lectures on your Lilly Charm. You spoke well enough in answering your questions."

Harry shrank a little into himself at hearing Dundee had heard him speak. When on the stage he tended to un-focus his eyes so he couldn't see the crowds of people watching him and Poppy intently.

"Ah! None of that!" Xander snapped lightly. "You only deserve their respect because you earned it, but you still need to make sure that they actually show it. You are a Prince and Future King after all."

It wasn't much, but it was a start. Dundee himself had set the ball rolling by asking a question as an officer of the law and a healer and doctor.

"Mr. Potter, last night you were taken into custody for revealing magic to a muggle after fully repairing a failed kidney and re-growing the other. I have two questions: One what possessed you to reveal magic and two, could the method you used to re-grow the kidney be used to re-grow severed limbs instead of the metal constructs you currently create?"

Harry was stumped. He hadn't considered the second question. He looked down at his own diamond hand and wondered if he could do that… would it hurt?

He wouldn't have much to lose, he could always re-create his diamond hand after all.

Harry cast a numbing charm on his wrist, then quickly sliced the diamond hand off with a slicing hex and vanished it as the assembled crowd of medical professionals gasped in shock and horror.

Harry stared at the stump of his wrist and ruthlessly buried the fear and terror of the memories that threatened to overwhelm him. Godric had worked hard with him to be able to cope with his nightmares and now he and Hermione were able to sleep apart… although they missed each other's company.

Harry shook his head to try and get his mind back on track. He stared at the severed bone and veins, skin, blood vessels and arteries. The particular numbing charm he had used was designed for surgical use and had been taught to him by French Healers during his visit there. It held back the flow of blood, allowing for easier work.

Slowly he began to pour his magic up through his wrist, just like he had done when he created his diamond hand, but this time he focused on the cells, the various parts that made up the human hand. The bone began to reform, the muscle grew back as the blood passages began to flow around them, the skin growing with it.

The crowd watched in awe and a small amount of terror as they watched the young boy slice off his own diamond hand and re-grow it before their eyes.

"I guess I can." Harry muttered.

Harry then had a very devious and un-Harry-like idea.

"I can teach you how to do this. Like with petrification reversal, it might take more than one person. But! I will only teach you if you figure out a system to help use magic to heal non-magicals with magic, specifically the magic I taught you." He said with a smug grin.

There was uproar in the crowd as they were outraged at the idea. Dundee was sitting there chuckling. He had hoped to give the lad the opportunity to begin a serious debate regarding the issue. Instead he had provided him with the opportunity to hold a bargaining chip over the magical world. Clearly the Goblins had been teaching him.

The clamouring eventually died down as one man, who clearly thought of himself as a respected leader, stood up and spoke.

"The Statute of Secrecy clearly prohibits what you are asking! Furthermore, would you really condemn thousands of witches and wizards over this?" The man wasn't a pompous arse like Fudge, he spoke with respect and passion. Nothing he said was demanding or condescending. Harry felt himself able to respect the man, at least for now.

"I did some research on the Statute. It is very specific, it only prevents us from revealing magic to non-magicals. It doesn't say anything about using magic on non-magicals.

"And, I am not saying you can't have it, I'm saying you can have it but only if everyone can have it."

At this point, Poppy stood up and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder to provide him with support and give him a short respite. She stood next to Harry as she spoke.

"Last night, Harry said the same thing after he healed a ten year old girl who's kidney's were destroyed. She was a non-magical and her non-magical doctors had just pronounced her dead.

"That young girl will never know that magic was involved. The Statute has been upheld." She told them seriously. "However, Harry did have to reveal what he had done to two doctors. One was fortunately related to magicals. This led Harry to suggest to us that we should inform certain non-magical doctors about us so they can refer patients to us and we can heal them under the guise of 'alternative therapy'."

"But we will still have to break the Statute to tell those particular doctors!" The man argued.

"So get an exemption from the ICW for this specific purpose." Poppy said with a shrug.

"Look, I know the magical world fears discovery." Harry said with a sigh. "But, one way or another, the magical world is going to be revealed. Whether by accident or on purpose. There is a dark lord currently trying to conquer England, but he wants to take over the whole world. If he steps up his campaign then the magical world will be at real risk to exposure.

"So, what is better? The magical world seeing us for the first time as a threat as we send killing curses at each other, or seeing us as healers, helpers and as friends of the whole world?"

Harry ran a hand through his messy hair and Poppy seeing him get a little stressed, rubbed his back gently.

"I don't want to withhold this technique until you have set it all up and got it working. If you, or the recognised medical leaders of say, five leading countries, take a wizards oath to fight for this in the ICW and do everything in their power to make it happen legally and effectively, then I will teach you straight away."

There was more grumbling and shouting, but also a lot of consideration.

"Enough!" The man who had challenged Harry earlier, roared. "Lord Gryffindor is quite correct in his stance. As the leader of the Australian Medical Council, I will gladly give my oath. I lost my great granddaughter to kidney failure, magic could have saved her. There are many others out there that need our help, the non-magical world should see us as friends, not a threat." Harry then remembered the mans name was Arthur Bramble, he was supposed to meet him later.

"But what about when they start demanding our help?" An older gentleman challenged.

"Since when do countries and nations give into the demands of others?" Poppy snapped. "We are not required to render services at their demand!"

"Madam Pomphrey is quite correct." Bramble acknowledged. "There are countries out there in the muggle world suffering from persecution and torture and yet the muggles do nothing but send one or two diplomats and some packets of food and medicine.

"When a man comes in demanding we treat his little boo boo immediately, do we capitulate and kiss his feet?" Bramble demanded. "No! We tell him to sit down, shut up and wait his turn. This is no different. Lord Gryffindor is suggesting that we only make our medicine available and in secret. If muggles turn around and start demanding our destructive abilities, we can simply demand their nuclear weapons first… that ought to set them straight!"

Harry was beginning to feel confident for the first time since he got up there. Not only did he have Poppy helping and supporting his ideas, but Arthur Bramble was standing there passionately smacking down any arguments with well reasoned counter-arguments.

And Harry didn't really have to do anything.

After the heated yet productive debate at the seminar, Harry and Poppy were escorted to Arthur Bramble's office for their scheduled meeting. They were surprised to see Officer Dundee and the main opposer there.

"That was the most fun I have ever had!" The opposer said gleefully.

Arthur just chuckled. "Lord Gryffindor, Madam Pomphrey, allow me to introduce Healer Mark Collins, a good friend and fellow conspirator."

"Conspirator?" Poppy asked.

"Whenever there is a matter of controversy to be debated or decided, like the one you brought up today, one of us plays devil's advocate and argues all the points against it whilst the other counters them. That way we cover all the points and still win. When Jack here," He gestured to Dundee, "told me what you intended to do I immediately called Mark and we brainstormed the argument all night… my wife was not pleased a being kept up." He said with an amused look.

"So… you were acting?" Harry asked.

"In a sense." Mark admitted. "Our points were valid and pertinent, but the… vigour and manner in which I presented them was merely to ensure that people thought I was truly against it.

"I'm not, I will likely be part of the team from Australia who will take this to the ICW."

"Anyway, that isn't why we are all here today." Arthur said with a smile. "When Jack relayed what you did last night with the young girl, he pointed out something that we can't really ignore. You are a Healer in all but name."

"But I haven't been apprenticed yet."

"Oh? So I haven't been a good enough mentor then?" Poppy asked in amusement.

"You've been the best, but I didn't take the oaths like you explained."

"Yes, because the Ministry wouldn't approve my request. Probably Fudge again." She snarled.

"But that is not a problem here." Arthur said genially. "As you know, the Healer qualification is an International qualification handled by an International body. The British Ministry really has no authority to deny Madam Pomphrey's request."

"Please, just Poppy."

"And Harry."

"First names all round then." Arthur smiled as the other two men nodded. "Anyway, today I witnessed you perform several acts of advanced healing, you even taught new methods.

"I would consider it an honour if you would allow me to take you on as my apprentice so you can attain the role of Healer." Arthur said seriously.

Harry was gobsmacked. Being a Healer was something he really wanted to do. He had wanted to tour St. Mungo's and try and clear out some of the wards, but they wouldn't let him as he wasn't even an apprentice. Nym's mother, Andromeda, offered to mentor him, but the Ministry had denied any attempt by Harry or for Harry to become a Healer or apprentice. Fudge had been rolling out all sorts of excuses from him being a foreign diplomat to serious doubts about his sanity due to the claims about You-Know-Who.

"I- that sounds great, but I can't leave home yet. I haven't even finished my OWLS!"

The three Australians just laughed. "Perhaps I wasn't clear, Harry." Arthur chuckled. "You would be my apprentice for the length of time it takes you and I to go through your oaths to graduate to a Healer.

"You have already shown yourself to be very skilled Healer. You are also destined to be a pioneer in medicine! You would simply take your oath as an apprentice Healer and straight after that you would take your oath as a full Healer. When you leave this office today, you would do so a Healer."

Harry had the oaths memorised as it was his goal in life, but there was one thing that held him back.

"I can't… I'm supposed to kill Tom Riddle… Lord Voldemort." He added at the looks of confusion.

"First of all, Harry, sometimes death is the ultimate method of healing. There will be a patient that the kindest thing you can do for them is kill them. Remember, 'first do no harm', if you allow some one to suffer, then you would break your oath… it's a catch 22 situation where any method you choose would satisfy your oath."

"Just as when Fawkes dealt with Neville's parents." Poppy added.

"Fawkes?" Jack asked.

"Fawkes is a Phoenix. He destroyed the living bodies of my best friends parents because they had been tortured into insanity and were pretty much brain dead." Harry said sadly.

"Interesting, and something that needs to be documented as a Phoenix judgement is something we should pay heed to." Mark mused.

"Yes, but, back to Harry's dilemma. My second point spins off from my first point. There are worse things than death. You are clearly the single most powerful wizard known to the magical world. You are also very ingenious. Between you and your father, you could easily come up with a way to defeat this Dark Lord without you needing to kill him."

"That's what Dad says, he says he plans to try and kill him the first time he sees him."

"There you go then, besides, killing this… Lord Voldemort, would likely save hundreds of people. Sometimes we need to cut into a body to remove an infection or cancer. Voldemort is nothing more than that." Arthur said seriously.

"So I woul-"

"Harry! Trouble at home!" Neville interrupted frantically as he suddenly appeared in the room.

"What now?" Poppy asked wearily as she placed a hand on Harry's shoulder to prevent him running off without her.

"Hermione and Luna were attacked by Dementors, their fine but the Ministry has put out an arrest warrant for Hermione!" Neville snarled angrily.

"Why on earth would they do that?" Arthur asked.

"To get back at Harry and Xander, they can't touch them because they are Goblin Royalty." Poppy sighed. "They are going after his loved ones."

"I believe I can safely offer a tentative offer of asylum for Miss Hermione should she need it. I will be speaking to the Prime Minister about it regardless." Arthur scowled.

"She's fine for now. She's at Hogwarts and they can't touch her there." Neville grinned.

"Perhaps we should conclude our business here so Harry can return to England?" Mark suggested.

"Do we have time?" Harry asked anxiously. He really wanted to get back to Hermione.

"Absolutely! It's just a simple oath that you probably already know and Miss Hermione sounds like she is in good hands for the next ten minutes or so." Arthur assured him.

Arthur stood up and rounded his desk to stand in front of Harry. He indicated a framed piece of writing on the wall. "That's your oath Harry. Say the Oath Harry and I will accept it."

Neville realised what was happening and stood silently in respect as his best friend took the oath to fulfil his dream of becoming a Healer. Poppy and the other Healers looked on with proud smiles.

"I accept and acknowledge your oath, my apprentice." Arthur said proudly as he touched his wand to Harry's head.

Arthur frowned. "I accept and acknowledge your oath, my apprentice." He repeated as he again tapped his wand on Harry's head.

"Something wrong?" Neville asked.

"There is supposed to be a flash of light, it signifies magic's acceptance of the oath." Jack explained.

"Does this mean I've been… rejected?" Harry asked worriedly.

"Err… no, if that happened, we would definitely know as you would have a nasty scar on your forehead." Mark assured him.

"You mean like this one?" He said lifting his fringe.

"No Harry, a black scar that signifies something else entirely. Nothing like yours." Poppy said as she placed an arm around his shoulder.

"This is highly unusual!" Arthur said in frustration. "There should have been some reaction… not an absence of reaction."

"Let's be precise about this Arthur, it's not just unusual, it's literally the first time it has ever been recorded!" Mark scowled.

"Does this mean I can't be a Healer?" Harry asked sadly.

"Honestly Harry, I don't know what it means." Arthur sighed as he leaned back against his desk.

"There're a lot of… unusual things… about Harry." Neville mused. "He has Basilisk Venom and Phoenix Tears in his blood. He also happens to be a Dragon Shifter and the most powerful wizard on the planet."

"Your point Neville?" Poppy asked curiously.

"It could be anything from Harry being too powerful to be bound by an oath to something to do with Xander's influence."

"So we might never know." Poppy said with a roll of her eyes.

"There are, what? Four registered Healers in this room?" Neville asked. "Why don't we agree for now that the considered opinion of those respected Healers and two Phoenixes is enough to consider Harry a Healer?"

"Two Phoenixes?" Mark asked in surprise.

Harry sniggered. "Meet Neville Longbottom. The only known Phoenix Magimagus."

Neville promptly transformed before them.

"Oh!" Mark exclaimed. "I had no idea. An honour to meet you sir." The other two men also offered their respect at the revelation.

"What do you say gentlemen?" Arthur asked the other two Australian Healers. "Lord Longbottom-"

"Neville." Neville interrupted.

Arthur smiled an inclined his head in thanks. "-Neville has declared Harry worthy and I assume can speak for the other Phoenix?"

"Fawkes, the Phoenix was the one who supplied the Phoenix tears for Harry." Poppy offered.

"Good enough for me." Jack agreed readily.

"Very well. Mark, Jack, if you would kindly sign this certificate, Poppy sign here."

In short order Harry was sent off with Neville and Poppy to see to Hermione with his proof of being a Healer in hand and a promise to figure out why the Oath didn't work.

*Chapter 35*: Chapter 35  
Harry, Neville and Poppy arrived at the entrance to Hogwarts to find entire families milling around.

"Was there an attack or something?" Poppy asked worriedly.

"Nope. But when the families heard about the Dementors they began appearing at Gringotts begging Xander to protect them." Neville smirked. "Not much love for the Ministry at the moment."

"So all these people are here to…"

"Get protection from the Ministry and Dementors." Neville shrugged.

"The Ministry is actually sending out Dementors to attack the populace?" Poppy asked doubtfully.

"Maybe we should just get Xander to explain it." Neville said as he led the way to the Apartment.

Harry, Neville and Poppy entered to find a grumpy Hermione, a pouting Xander, a scowling Joyce and Minerva and an amused Dan and Emma.

"What happened?" Neville asked in amusement.

"Joyce and Minerva won't let Xander declare war on the Ministry." Dan grinned.

"Why?" Poppy asked in disbelief.

"Thank you Poppy!" Minerva said in exasperated relief.

"Nooo… why won't you let him declare war?" Poppy clarified causing Hermione and Xander to grin. "It seems clear that they have completely lost the plot!"

"There would be countless needless deaths!" Minerva exclaimed.

"Why? Between Xander and Harry they could do the whole thing with shedding a drop of blood."

"Can we make war plans later and someone just tell me what happened?" Harry asked tersely.

"Luna was sleeping over with me and we were walking back to my house. Two Dementors came and attacked so we defended ourselves with the Patronus Charm.

"Xander came and finished them off." Hermione rattled off absently.

"Ok… and the Ministry arresting you?"

"They said I illegally used underage magic and broke the Statute of Secrecy."

Harry was a little worried. His girlfriend, the rule abiding teacher's pet, was showing a very blasé attitude to the charges.

"And the reason you're not worried?"

"They have no case." She shrugged.

"Unfortunately, Hermione, you are overlooking an important and worrying fact." Joyce frowned in disappointment.

Hermione looked both worried and slightly insulted at the thought of overlooking something.

"A couple of questions: Did the Ministry lose control of two Dementors or did they send them after you?

"Does the Ministry know they are now missing two Dementors?

"Why have they issued an arrest without an investigation?"

"You think they did it on purpose?" Emma asked horrified.

Xander added. "She is the boyfriend of the Prince of the Goblins, the one person who witnessed Tom Riddle's return, Lord Gryffindor… etc."

Xander noticed them staring at him in amusement, Hermione looked a bit annoyed.

"What?" He asked.

"'Girlfriend' Xander. Hermione is Harry's girlfriend, not boyfriend." Dan smirked.

"Did I say that?"

"Yes!" Hermione screeched.

"Sorry… slip of the tongue." He shrugged apologetically.

"What's the plan?" Emma asked with a scowl. This was far too serious to joke about now that it was clear that they were after her daughter and it was unlikely to be an accident. "What will happen to Hermione?"

Minerva took up the ball at this point. "Ordinarily a warning is all that is sent. Due to this being done outside of her home, an investigation is warranted. Children are known for pushing their luck after all.

"If she is found guilty of breaking the Statute they will snap her wand and possibly obliviate her knowledge of the Wizarding world."

Hermione paled and Harry hugged her tighter.

"Would you relax!" Xander exclaimed. "You are untouchable! A simple testimony from yourself by veritiserum and myself clears you of guilt. Even if they managed to convict you we could protect you here and at Gringotts."

"But I wouldn't be able to leave, I'd be trapped here!" Hermione said fearfully.

"You wouldn't be able to enter Britain but you could always pop over to France."

"Or Australia. They offered asylum when they heard." Harry said helpfully.

"Asylum!" She screeched in a panic.

Harry backed off slightly. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"I'll be exiled from Britain!" She sobbed as she buried her head in Harry's shoulder.

"Australia seemed pretty nice to me." Harry mumbled.

Further wailing by Hermione was interrupted by Sirius barging in.

"Have no fear! Dog Man is here!" He declared as he struck a heroic pose. He then saw the teary eyes of Hermione. "Should I come back later?"

"Only if you have nothing meaningful to add." Minerva informed him through narrowed eyes that spoke of choke chains, neutering and… the V. E. T.

"How about a solution to make Hermione untouchable to the Ministry?" Sirius offered.

Hermione instantly became attentive.

"I wouldn't get too excited, especially if Sirius came up with it." Neville cautioned.

"I'll have you know that this solution was suggested by Luna!" Sirius said indignantly. At which point Hermione went back to sobbing in Harry's shirt.

"Sirius, I love my daughter very much… but since the first time she told me she wanted to meet a crumple-horned snorckack… I knew her judgement was lacking somewhat." Xander said as he flopped onto the couch next to Joyce.

"Look… I'll grant you that this is fairly unorthodox…" he suddenly looked very cagey. "I'll also admit that I may need protection from all of you for bringing it to your attention. Come to think of it… I think your daughter played me! She should be telling you." Sirius suddenly realised.

"Just get on with it Sirius, we can compliment Luna on manipulating you later." Dan moaned.

"Marriage contract." Sirius declared in a huff as he conjured a chair for himself and sat down.

"You want me to sell myself?" Hermione asked in disgust.

Sirius opened his mouth to correct her… but then realised that she was right and clammed up.

Hermione had gone from sobbing to steaming.

"I lay all blame at the feet of one Luna Lovegood." Sirius declared.

"Throwing my daughter to the wolves?" Joyce asked with a glare.

"First of all, she's cuter than me… she can turn those puppy dog eyes on anyone and they'll melt… I think that's how she got me." Sirius mused thoughtfully.

"Second of all, the head wolf is her father. I'm just returning the cub to the pack!"

"I think I have another solution based on Sirius'-"

"Luna's!"

"Fine – Luna's suggestion." Neville offered. "I adopt her into the Longbottom family as a ward or sister."

"And that will help, how?" Dan asked.

"I'm a Lord, a Pureblood, a Phoenix and a member of the Wizengamot. Do you really think they are going to mess with someone under my protection? A member of my family?" He asked with a grin.

"Merlin! Frank would be so proud." Sirius said as he wiped a fake tear from his eye.

"Would that change our relationship with Hermione?" Emma asked cautiously.

"No… but it might change your relationship with me." Neville grinned. "Do you really think I would adopt one Granger and leave the rest to fend for themselves? Harry and Hermione would kill me! Or try to at least."

"So we have a plan… or two?" Harry asked.

Dan and Emma shared a look.

"If Neville is willing and happy to adopt us into his family then yes, we do." Dan said slowly.

"Hermione?" Emma asked. "That ok with you?"

"I finally get a brother!" She said with a teary smile.

"And I get to be all over protective and threaten Harry if he hurts you or moves to fast." Neville said smugly.

"Hey!" Harry objected.

"Please, we can hardly do anything as it is! Joyce re-erected the wards since Harry and I started sleeping alone again." She finished sadly.

"And rightly so!" Minerva said primly.

"What happens now, is there a ritual or ceremony? Does Hermione still have to attend the hearing?" Dan asked.

"I don't know about the hearing, but there is no ritual, I have stated my intentions in front of several witches and wizards of good standing, so you are now my family." Neville shrugged.

"Well… that seems fairly anti-climactic." Xander snorted.

"We could always throw a party?" Sirius suggested. "In fact, leave it to me. I'll go and throw something together." He said as he teleported out.

"I want to know how you know about this adoption stuff but Sirius didn't." Harry asked Neville.

"You've met my Grandmother." Neville said simply.

"This hearing is now in session. Minister Cornelius Fudge presiding." Delores Umbridge declared from Fudges left.

"As neither the accused nor her counsel has bothered to attend I propose we proceed to the judgement and sentencing." Fudge declared smugly.

"But we are here." A voice said from the shadows.

"Whose there? Identify yourselves!" Delores demanded.

"Lord Longbottom. Counsel for Hermione Granger… of Longbottom." Neville said as he seemed to melt away from the darkness.

"Wha- Why are you here?" Fudge demanded angrily.

Neville shrugged. "As registered counsel for Miss Granger, all correspondence regarding her case goes straight to me. So that change of venue and time notice you sent five minutes ago came straight to me… when I was standing right behind you."

No one had any measure of trust in Fudge. Since Harry had returned from Australia either Neville, Harry, Sirius or Sal had silently and invisibly shadowed Fudge in case he pulled something… nefarious.

The courtroom doors opened and Hermione and Harry stormed in… with half the students, teachers and parents of Hogwarts in tow not to mention several journalists from foreign papers.

"What is the meaning of this!" Fudge bellowed. "This is a closed hearing!"

"On whose authority?" Neville asked calmly.

"Mine! The Minister of Magic!"

"You don't have that authority." Neville said with a pointed look. "You also don't have to authority to try this case by yourself."

"I am not! Madam Umbridge is also hearing the case."

"She is not a member of the Wizengamot and not authorised. Also, you require at least three members to act as a jury panel who have taken a judicial oath. Something you yourself have not taken."

"I will not sit here whilst some upstart tries to dictate the rules of law to the sitting Minister!" Delores screeched. "Call in the Dementors and guards and have this little snot taken away and clear the courtroom!"

The court scribe scrambled away quickly and opened a door. The young man, a former Ravenclaw visibly shrunk on himself as he opened the door. The reason was clear as two Dementors swooped in, one stopped and immediately bent over the scribe who screamed in terror which started several of the parents screaming.

Five Aurors came running in and started hurling hexes against the Dementors who ignored them as meaningless.

As the crowd started to panic and press and stumble against the exit Xander shouted for order.

"SILENCE!" He roared angrily. He gave a nod to Harry who conjured a sword and advanced on the Dementors, one who was attempting suck out the soul of the scribe and the other who was sizing up which of the Aurors to use as an entrée.

Harry calmly lopped the head of the closest Dementor off which was terrorising the Aurors without breaking stride before pausing mid stroke over the one who was leaning over the scribe.

Harry suddenly grinned and then lowered his sword.

The crowd had calmed at seeing Harry easily dispatch the first Dementor, but tensed when he refused to destroy the second.

Harry silently conjured his patronus, a huge wolf like his adopted father. A symbol to Harry of the protection that Xander embodied for him. The Patronus immediately planted itself between the scribe and the Dementor, growling.

But Harry focused on his Patronus charm and called it to surround the Dementor as a chain.

The escaping mob had now calmed due to morbid curiosity as they watched the Boy-Who-Lived chain a Dementor with his Patronus. They watched the silvery giant wolf leap at the Dementor and then morph and melt around it forming a chain. The Dementor proved it could vocalise as it began shrieking.

They watched as Harry seemed to levitate the Dementor into the chair next to Fudge who was desperately trying to climb over Umbridge to get away.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Fudge screamed.

"Just moving the Dementor out of the way." Harry shrugged with a smile.

"This is attempted murder!" Umbridge declared.

"Why? I didn't bring a Dementor into a government building with hundreds of innocents. Are you saying that forcing someone to be around a Dementor is attempted murder? Because then you and Fudge are guilty of the attempted murder of the entire British Isles." Harry said nonchalantly.

"SILENCE YOU FILTHY BOY YOU WI-URK"

Whatever Umbridge was about to say was cut off as she was hit by a stunner. Everyone turned to see Minerva standing there, livid.

"Nobody speaks to my son like that." She snarled quietly. "Harry, destroy that Dementor so we can get on with this farce of a trial and return home." She ordered sharply as she put her wand neatly away and retook her seat next to a highly impressed Sal and a slightly cowering Sirius.

Harry was so in awe of his usually passive yet stern mother that he simply stood there staring until Neville jabbed him in the shoulder. He then marched up and beheaded the Dementor.

"For the record, the Dementors appear to have killed their handlers." Harry informed the assembled people as he levitated two Auror bodies out of the side room for the public to see. The shouts of outrage went on for minutes as the other Aurors levitated the bodies from the room. Amelia was clearly livid.

"Thank you Harry." Neville said as the doors closed. "Now, before we begin this 'trial'" he spat in distaste "there are a few matters of justice to be dealt with. First of all, Fudge, you cannot prosecute this case and judge it. As you are the only person here who wants to bring the charges, you will have to step down and stand as prosecutor."

"Madam Umbridge is more than capable-"

"Of nothing of relevance to this hearing. She does not have the authority and you don't have the authority to grant her the authority… or something." Neville frowned as he confused himself.

"I am the Minister of Magic! I will determine the rules of the court!"

"I am the Chief Warlock. You do not have the authority!" Dumbledore said loudly as he banged through the doors.

"Again with the dramatics!" Xander moaned quietly causing the nearby students to giggle.

Dumbledore either didn't hear or chose to ignore it. "As Chief Warlock it is my duty to preside over these sorts of proceedings."

"But- "

"You don't want to find yourself impeached and in Azkaban do you, Cornelius?" He asked pointedly.

Fudge snarled but quickly removed himself to the prosecutor's table.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore said jovially. "I believe Amelia and myself will suffice for two of the panel, perhaps Lord Slytherin would fill the third place?"

None of Xander and Harry's family trusted the old coot, but they had no reason to argue, so Sal made his way to the third seat.

Once they were all settled and seated, Albus called for Fudge to begin.

"First, the accused must take their seat." He said smugly as he indicated the frightening chair with chains.

Hermione looked at it with a raised eyebrow and then primly sauntered over and daintily took her seat, crossing her legs, adjusting her skirt and folding her hands in her lap.

Fudge grinned and went to activate the chains when the whole chair morphed into an exact replica of the royal throne.

"This is outrageous! A blatant use of under aged magic… at her actual hearing regarding a previous offense of the same nature!" Fudge argued.

"Actually, I did that." Xander said as stood from the gallery. "Minerva is always saying I need to work on my attention to detail in transfiguration."

"Excellent work Xander. Definite OWL standard." Minerva said with a smirk.

"But- but- this- decorum! Government property!" Fudge babbled.

"Cornelius, do get on with it, Miss Granger seems to be neither inclined to violence nor escape so the chains that you so obviously were about to use served nothing but your own ego!" Amelia admonished angrily.

Fudge was fuming at the way everything was falling apart. He had this carefully planned. He would have the stupid mudblood of Potter's obliviated and banished to the muggle world. It was a petty move, but it would put those ingrates in their place.

He had purposefully changed the time and date of the hearing at the last second and brought Dementors to keep people away. But that brat Longbottom had followed.

Even though he was just an insolent boy with delusions of grandeur, Fudge couldn't touch him without serious cause, the wizarding nobility would have his hide otherwise.

It was bad enough when all the bloody spectators had arrived with Harris and the mudblood, he could have easily argued the Longbottom brat into submission and dismissed him with his Ministerial power, but then Dumbledore had appeared and made him powerless.

To add insult to injury, Bones was making a mockery of him! Her superior!

He would deal with them later.

Fudge took a moment to centre himself. "On the 17th of August the accused did wilfully cast magic being in breech of both the 1875 Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the 1689 International Statute of Secrecy.

"As such she should be sentenced to a minimum of Obliviation of all knowledge of the Wizarding World and the snapping of her wand." He said succinctly.

It was a very simple argument backed up by plenty of legislature.

"Why?"

Fudge looked at Longbottom as if he were a moron. "Because you moronic simpleton, -"

"You are aware that I am a Lord of an Ancient and Noble House?" Neville interrupted calmly. "Insult myself or my family again and I will challenge you to a Wizards Duel."

"You are just an- "

"Cornelius!" Amelia snapped. "Lord Longbottom is not only within his rights but clearly on the moral high ground. Continue with this behaviour and no one will be able to save you from a man who helped clear out all the Dementors in Azkaban."

Fudge was fuming at being rebuked by these inferiors, but he also knew he wouldn't stand a chance against the Longbottom brat.

"I apologise." He said stiffly.

Neville didn't respond but simply nodded to Amelia and resumed his seat.

"Thank you, now, Minister Fudge, would you please answer Lord Longbottom's question of 'Why'?"

"It would seem fairly simple to a lowly Minister as myself that the punishment should be meted out as laid out in the law." He said patronisingly.

"No one is denying that, and that is not the question I was asking."

"What other 'why' is there?" Fudge asked in exasperation.

"Why would Miss Granger, an acknowledged and respected student at one of Europe's most prestigious Houses of Learning breach a law as well known and enforced as the ones you accused her of breaking?" Neville asked boredly.

Hermione, meanwhile, had discovered that Xander's transfigured throne actually had a reclining function.

Fudge was a little nonplussed and distracted at the sight of Granger's Head and back begin to recline and her feet start to rise.

"Cornelius?" Albus asked curiously.

"I… erm, say again?" He asked in befuddlement as he blinked and turned to face the panel of judges.

"You need to respond to Lord Longbottom's question." He prodded gently.

"What? Question? Oh! Right!" He said raising a finger in triumph… and then shuffling in embarrassment as he realised he was now making a spectacle of himself.

"Why?" Fudge said quietly. He then looked at Neville as though he clearly couldn't understand why the boy would ask something so foolish. "Why does it matter why the foolish girl did it? She did! She needs to be punished!"

"In that case… you first Minister Fudge." Neville said with a quiet smug smirk.

"Me first?"

"For Obliviation and snapping of your wand. After all, you have several notes in your juvenile file regarding your frivolous and reckless use of Underage Magic on Muggles.

"According to your interpretation of the law… you should have been obliviated years ago."

"How did you get that?" Fudge asked, horror written all over his face.

"I would be happy to perform the charm myself." Neville addressed the panel with a polite and sweet expression as he twirled his wand.

"THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!" Fudge screamed.

"I agree, but it was your interpretation of the law." Amelia said scathingly.

Dumbledore sighed as Fudge made a mockery of the judicial system whilst Sal was watching with undisguised joy.

Hermione had since discovered the massage function of her throne.

Fudge thought quickly, he could get through this court case and change the laws after the mudblood was dealt with.

"I'm afraid I am not the one on trial here, we can of course revisit these accusations at a later date." He said with a forced air of geniality which carried a fetid stench of smugness and git-ishness.

"In that case, why don't we return to my original question of 'why'. Why would Miss Granger cast the Patronus Charm in the dead of night whilst school was not in session?

"Could it be due to the two Dementors that were bearing down on her and Miss Luna Lovegood?"

Fudge paled slightly. "Preposterous, all Dementors are safely confined to the South Wales Prison." Fudge blustered.

"Well, regardless, Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood both believed their lives were in danger from two excessively dark and Internationally condemned creatures." Neville sneered at Fudge. "Both the laws you have cited have clauses that allow for exceptions under those circumstances."

"All we have is the girls word for it! She's a Mud-Muggle born. She would be lucky to know a dragon from a niffler!"

"According to her latest exam results, she does." Neville said offhandedly. "However, as I said, she only needed to believe she was in danger. She could have been facing a boggart and she would still be exempt. Merlin! She could have been facing an attacking muggle and still been exempt!"

"Again, we only have her word that she 'believed'!" Fudge countered.

"Oath or veritiserum?" Neville asked.

"What?"

"Miss Granger has already conveyed her desire to prove her truthfulness by testifying under oath or veritiserum." Neville explained.

Fudge glanced at the relaxed and… apparently vibrating girl who had her eyes closed and was obviously dead to the world.

Fudge had a sudden thought. "Veritiserum." He said with a sharp nod.

"Very well, will one of the Aurors please acquire a vial." Dumbledore ordered.

Fudge took the opportunity to look at the gallery and dumbfounded to find nearly all of the gallery, bar Potter and his family, reclining in some very plush chairs. Some of them had their eyes closed, others seemed to be munching on little white puffs of food, like exploded corn.

Potter and his family appeared to be deeply engrossed in some very large books and barely paying attention to the proceedings.

All at once Potter and Co. looked up and waved with a grin at Fudge.

It was… unnerving, but he was saved by the return of the Auror.

"Erm… Miss Granger? Could you… sit up?" The Auror asked nervously. Normally people were already upright, alert and chained in the usual chair, not practically laid back and purring.

Hermione groaned in loss as the chair righted itself. She shook her head to clear it from the glow of relaxation and then stuck out her tongue for the serum.

"Now, just a few questions to establish the serum is working." Fudge grinned victoriously.

Neville and Harry were instantly on alert at his smile and tone.

"Please state your full name."

"Hermione Jane Granger of Longbottom."

"What!" Fudge practically yelped. He had thought the boy was speaking out his ass when he had said that.

"Hermione Jane Granger of Longbottom." Hermione repeated.

"I… erm…"

"It's hardly relevant to your question, but due to the closeness of Miss Granger and her family to myself, and my lack of parents and siblings, I adopted them into my family. Please move on." Neville ordered with a scowl. It was family business and not to be questioned.

"But- "

"Move on Cornelius." Amelia warned.

Fudge scowled again. "Were you under the influence of any spells, drugs or intoxicants on the night you claim you were attacked by Dementors?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Cornelius! The girl is under veritiserum! Her first answer is always sufficient! Ask a question, accept the answer and move on!" Amelia was getting very irate. Of course if Susan had been on trial for this she would have likely already challenged Fudge to a duel.

"Did you cast a Patronus charm with your wand on that night?"

"No."

Fudge was stumped at that one. How else was the girl to defend against a Dementor, she didn't look like she could handle a sword like Potter and Harris.

"Erm… did you cast magic that night?" He asked tentatively, a no answer would terrible and end the case immediately.

"Yes."

Fudge nearly collapsed in relief, all was not lost.

"What and how did you cast?"

"A wandless and non-verbal Patronus."

Ah, of course. The girl had been taught by the Harris fool.

Here was his opening. "Please explain how you learnt to do that."

"Lord Hogwarts taught me."

Fudge was hoping for a bit more of a tutorial than that. He needed that secret.

"Please explain the method."

Hermione's mouth began to move but no sound seemed to come out.

"What is going on?" Fudge demanded.

"What is going on is you are asking questions about private information that has nothing to do with your case." Xander said as he began marching down the aisle. "Do it again and I will challenge you to a duel."

Dumbledore, however, also wanted the answers. He had a war to fight and this was a tool too important to let pass. "I agree with Minister Fudge, the answers maybe relevant.

"Miss Granger, please explain how you are able to cast like that as well as teleport and phase." Dumbledore ordered as he raised his wand to Hermione.

"NOO!" Harry roared as he summoned the old man's wand and banished him into the back wall.

The ancient man had the wind knocked out of him but he was an old warrior and quickly rose to his feet only to see his wand in Harry's hand.

"No! My wand!" He cried in shock.

"This is an outrage! I demand that the courtroom be cleared!" Fudge said angrily, without an audience he could salvage this mess.

"ENOUGH!" Salazar roared. "This debacle has gone on long enough! Lord Hogwarts, please allow Miss Granger of Longbottom to speak." He ordered sternly.

"Miss Granger, were there Dementors there that night?"

"Yes."

"Was your life in danger?"

"Yes."

"Thank you Miss Granger." He gave a nod to Xander who immediately silenced Hermione again.

"This court has heard all the necessary evidence required. The accused has testified under veritiserum that she saw Dementors and that her life was in danger. As such, the two statutes she is accused of breaking do not apply as she qualifies for exemptions. This means that this hearing is over and the charges are dismissed with the courts apologies to Miss Granger and Lord Longbottom."

"Outrageous! You have no right!" Fudge argued.

"The law gives me that right. It is the same law that says you are wrong. If you want to pursue this further then I suggest you take it up with the ICW." Sal snarled. "Lord Gryffindor, take Miss Granger of Longbottom home." He ordered as he rose and descended from the judges bench.

Harry just grinned and everyone that came with him vanished, Sal and Amelia included.

All that was left was Fudge, Dumbledore, the court scribe and the Aurors.

Fudge was livid as he packed up his papers. He had an air tight case which he had ensured couldn't be defended. But Dumbledore and Bones had interfered. He would see to it that they were replaced immediately. He would regain control of the British Empire. He needed the right people. People he could trust, that the citizens respected.

Whilst Fudge was packing, Dumbledore was sitting dazedly where he had landed. His wand was gone. The Elder Wand was no longer his to command. He had hoped to regain the Cloak of Invisibility after Potter had died. He had a lead on the Resurrection Stone. He would become the Master of Death and would lead the world to a new era of peace. But it was all for nought. He had to find the Resurrection Stone as soon as possible. Potter could not be trusted not to abuse the power of the three Deathly Hallows.

Especially as he was supposed to die to defeat Voldemort.

"Do you think he'll target Hermione again?" Dan asked.

"No, not after Neville adopted you into the family." Augusta shook her head as she sipped her wine.

There was a party happening in the Great Hall. Hermione's friends had surrounded her and supported her through this and they wanted to celebrate her and Neville's victory.

At one of the round tables, Xander, Harry, Neville, Dan, Emma and Augusta were discussing more serious things.

"If he does, and he doesn't have proof, I'll challenge him to a duel and then request that you mount his head outside Gringotts." Neville scowled.

"I thought Phoenixes were supposed to be creatures of light." Emma asked a little shocked at Neville's bloodthirsty response.

"We are. A good description of a Phoenix is a 'Raptor of Light'. We support and enforce the light. How else were Fawkes and I able to take out Dementors?"

"What about other students?" Harry asked thoughtfully.

"What about them?" Xander queried.

"Will Fudge go after them?"

The group considered that for a moment. What would Fudge do?

"Possibly." Augusta considered slowly. "It depends on how potent his lust for power and control has grown. His attack on Hermione was a way to get at you and Xander."

"He may follow Voldemort's path and target muggleborn." Neville said in disgust. "It will give him a good standing with the Purebloods, they are the ones with the money and power.

"Will they go after muggleborn adults or parents of muggleborn children?" Harry asked.

"He can not." Augusta said firmly. "He doesn't have the authority. Furthermore, the International Confederation of Warlocks would intervene."

"Didn't anyone say the same thing about Tom Riddle? It took a 15 month old baby to end his reign." Dan pointed out.

"Riddle wasn't interested in Muggles, just magicals who weren't purebloods." Augusta corrected. "He knew just as well as Fudge that attacking Muggles would violate the Statute of Secrecy and result in ICW intervention."

There was a few moments silence as they considered that.

"Nope. Just can't see Fudge being as smart as Riddle." Xander said with a grin.

The others found it hard to argue.

"You gonna keep that wand, Harry?" Neville asked, changing the topic.

"Yeah, it feels like… mine. I don't need a wand, but it feels like I should have this wand. And only me." Harry said as he took it out and looked at it. "Makes me wonder if belonged to one of my ancestors."

"Ask Godric." Xander suggested.

"Ask me what?" The man in question asked as he joined them with Sirius, Sal and Remus.

"Do you recognise this wand? Did it belong to someone in your… descendants?" Harry asked handing the wand over.

"A thousand years is a long time." Godric frowned as he examined the wand. "I suppose it could have, it does ring familiar in feel, but not enough that I can say for certain."

"Perhaps Master Wand Maker Ollivander could tell you more." Augusta suggested.

Harry grinned at Xander. "What do ya say Dad? Wanna go visit him?"

"Oh hardy har har." Xander said sarcastically. "I swear the man has a compulsion to place wands in my hand. I'm sure he put a trace on me too! The other week I was walking down that Alley and he came running after me with another new wand!"

"You are the only wizard or witch he has never found a match for." Remus chuckled.

"There are 6 billion people on the planet, god knows how many can use a wand, I am sure others won't match a wand." Xander groused.

"That is your unique Xander-ness, as Willow and Buffy would say." Joyce interjected as she joined them.

Whilst Xander and Harry were discussing things with the family, Hermione was the centre of attention with her friends as they bombarded her with questions.

"Did that veritiserum really work on you?" Dean asked sceptically.

"Unfortunately." She grimaced. "Of course, no one heard me explain how Xander can teleport and phase and basically defy the laws of magic, but apparently I knew more than I thought." She said with a smug grin. Then she pouted in disappointment. "Maybe one day they'll let me publish a paper on it." She sighed.

"Maybe Headmaster Harris will let you teach it as a theory course to those of us under the oath." Cho offered.

"How did Neville know all that legal stuff?" Tracy Davis asked.

It was Hannah who answered with a snort. "He's been trained to be a member of nobility by his grandmother since he could open his eyes! It's been drilled into him that he needs to learn the laws and customs. He has to be able to converse with Heads of State on the topics."

"It didn't hurt that Xander and the family were frantically reading law books and telepathically sending him the information at the same time!" Hermione laughed.

"So that's what they were doing!" Pavarti exclaimed. "We were about ready to go down there and smack them for not being supportive." She said as Lavender nodded.

"I'm guessing that Hermione was probably sending them ideas as well." Cho smirked.

"Me? Nope! I was in heaven and oblivious to everything thanks to that heavenly chair." She said dreamily.

"I think Xander must have added something to yours, ours were good, but we were able to focus." Dean frowned.

"Aye, but I'm thinking that ours were just to annoy Dumbledore and Fudge." Seamus chuckled.

"You had them too?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"Oh yeah, gonna have to transfigure some for the common room!" Dean confirmed passionately. He was backed up by everyone.

"Where were Fleur and Nym?" Hermione asked.

There was a round of shrugs.

"Oh well, I'll ask Xander later."

"Were you worried when the Dementors came out?" Lavender asked.

"With Xander and Harry there?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not to mention Neville." Hannah piped up.

"We had a feeling that Fudge would pull something like that with Dementors. We also knew that Neville should avoid dealing with them so that he didn't give them legal reasons to remove him from the case." Hermione explained.

"I just wish that Harry had turned into his dragon form. That would have put Fudge in his place." Daphne sighed.

"You just like him in his dragon form!" Tracy teased.

"Dragon form, human form, it's all good to us. We can't touch and have, so we ogle to our hearts content!" Lavender grinned causing Daphne and the other Purebloods to blush.

"Lavender, Purebloods remember? The sexually repressed?" Hermione admonished teasingly.

It was just a local police station. Not the most useful way into the muggle government, but it was what he needed. He had to find out just how much the muggles knew about the wizarding world. Did they know enough, or too much. What did they do with that knowledge and did he need to do anything about it.

First the record rooms and then the offices, looking for any information on the magical world.

He just hoped he didn't have to mess with the computers.


	8. Chapter 36 - Chapter 40

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The spirit of Hogwarts believes that Harry has suffered enough in his eleven years of life and calls in a protector to guide and care for him. Not slash, rating for violence in later chapters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a Repost all words belong to mjimeyg

*Chapter 36*: Chapter 36  
The first day of term had arrived. Half the school was already there so the train ride was fairly quiet, especially for Xander, Sal, Godric, Neville and Harry who were on duty on the train. Hermione was playing liaison with the school in case of trouble.

There had been trouble at the station already when Aurors had arrived to board and check the passengers. Xander had promptly informed them that the train was private property and if they wanted to board it they had to get past the two dragons behind him.

The sight of Harry looming over them whilst Sal was perched on the nearest carriage was enough to declare the train safe and run along.

The train journey took all of a split second as Harry teleported the entire train straight onto Hogwarts grounds. It was an astounding bit of magic that thoroughly impressed the new first years.

This left them with a lot of time until the sorting and welcome feast. It was a sunny day and a picnic was set up for everyone, a way for all the new students to mingle and get to know each other. It seemed to work well.

So here they were preparing for the leaving feast as Xander gave his opening speech.

"Last year was a frickin' nightmare!"

"Xander!" Minerva admonished aghast.

"We saw hundreds of people die in front of us because of those fools in the Ministry decided to force us to compete in that stupid tournament.

"And then they managed to actually aid in the resurrection of Voldemort!"

Many of the eldest students and first years gasped at the forbidden name. But Xander's interactions with the fifth years down had made them less afraid.

Delores Umbridge was fuming. It was bad enough that they had seated her at the very end of the staff table (her rightful place was at the centre, but she would have settled for the right side of the centre chair) but now that fool Harris was besmirching the Ministry and Cornelius.

"Mr. Harris!" She screeched.

"It's Lord Hogwarts, Delores. Now sit down and mind your manners. It's rude to interrupt." Xander said calmly.

"I can not sit here and-"

"Then leave. I honestly don't care, now shut up before I shut you up."

She opened and closed her mouth several times but then fumed and sat down, impotently.

"Right… where was I?" Xander frowned.

"Ministry aiding the resurrection of Voldemort." Joyce reminded him.

"Right… now where was I going?" He wondered. "Dammit Delores, you made me lose my place!" Xander snapped at the smug looking witch.

"Alright, it doesn't matter. Most of you were there last year and witnessed what happened.

"The Ministry" he spat "has decided to interfere in your education. They recalled Professor Moody to active duty (despite the fact they deny Voldemort is back) and have forced you to learn from Delores Umbridge.

"Somehow I doubt she is going to be any good, but I have someone lined up just in case."

Delores was glowing red with rage. There were tints of purple and blue as she unconsciously held her breath in her anger.

"Anyway, I have forgotten everything I was going to say, if I remember I'll say it tomorrow, any questions, ask your prefects or professors. That's what we are here for. Enjoy your meal!"

"Before they eat I believe I should say a few words." Delores said as she forced herself to assume a manner of calmness and geniality. It was a horrifying sight that caused a new first year Ravenclaw to burst into tears.

"Believe what you like, doesn't make it true. Sit down and shut up Delores." Xander ordered.

"I have a right and duty to address these students!"

"Not in MY school you don't. The School Charter clearly states that the teachers are to adhere to the instructions of the Headmaster or owner of the school. Since I am both, sit down or be fired." Xander grinned.

"You don't have the authority to fire me!" She challenged.

"Hey, these are the rules, agreed to and signed by your Ministry, the same rules that allowed Fudge to place you here. You break 'em, you deal with the consequences." Xander grinned smugly.

"Those laws were designed to-"

"I don't care what those laws were designed for. If you and the Ministry refuse to abide by them… why should I?"

Umbridge fumed on the spot twitching with indecision. She wisely returned to her seat.

That night in the Apartment, Xander and Harry had a private conversation.

"I need you to try and push Umbridge's buttons to get detention, but don't do anything that… I dunno, Minerva or Filius would assign detention for." Xander said as he paced in front of Harry's bed.

"Ok… how… and why?" He asked curiously.

"The why, is because of something Godric said. Of all the people he sorts, he remembers those that standout whether for good or for bad. Like your mother, for good. Riddle for bad.

"Delores, for bad.

"I don't trust her around the kids, but I can't kick her out without breaking the Ministry Contracts. That would be a bad thing."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"It will give the Ministry international backing to take over the school… or forbid us from running a school supported by the Ministry."

"Can't we complain to the ICW and run the school independently?"

"Not until the Ministry screws up."

"Screws up? Like Riddle in my first year, the Basilisk in my second, Dementors and the bloody Tournament!" Harry said angrily as he rubbed his right wrist subconsciously.

"First year was Dumbledore's fault, second was Riddle and Sal. Third, we managed to prevent the Dementors from threatening the actual school. Fourth… all the actions and consequences would be blamed on Draco and Crouch… Crouch was obviously not acting under Ministry orders." Xander rattled off.

Harry sighed. "So you're hoping Umbridge will screw up?"

"I'm fairly certain she will, but I am more worried that she will actively endanger the students and try to harm them."

"Why would she do that?"

"She is a fanatic… but instead of for Riddle, she is a Pureblood fanatic for Fudge. I am worried that she will try and intimidate the students into following her and obeying. Using a stick instead of the carrot… at least for half bloods and first generations."

"So… you want me to make myself her target?" Harry asked dubiously.

"Yeah, get yourself detention as often as you can. Do what you have to, to protect the students. Just… try not to kill her, we need to be able to interrogate her with truth serum."

"Mr. Potter, you have detention tonight with me!"

"I do?"

He hadn't even walked through the door properly… he literally had one foot in the classroom and she had given him detention. At least he didn't have to make an ass out of himself.

"You didn't think you could get away with telling all those lies? No! Laws and rules will be enforced! You will soon see the error of your ways." Umbridge said gleefully. She was so very damn creepy.

"What lies? Harry never told any lies!" Dean argued.

"Mr. Thomas! You will raise your hand in my classroom and wait to be acknowledged!" Umbridge admonished.

There was a rush of wind as every hand went up.

"Miss Greengrass?" Umbridge purposefully picked a pureblood and possible Ministry sympathiser.

"Harry… Lord Gryffindor… doesn't lie." She said emphasising his title. "As you have besmirched his good name, I trust you have evidence to back up your accusations?" She asked primly.

"Miss Greengrass, I am very disappointed in you. I am sure your parents would be too." Umbridge tutted as she turned away.

Daphne was confused. "I don't see why, but… you haven't provided us with evidence."

"This is Defence Against the Dark Arts, not Defence of Harry Potter!" She snapped. "We are here to learn, not another word or you will be joining Mr. Potter in detention!"

"Then the proper pureblood thing to do would be to apologise now to Lord Gryffindor for the public accusations you refuse to provide evidence for." Daphne scowled. She had a strong backing.

Meanwhile Harry had already informed Neville and Hermione mentally of the plan and the three of them were going around the room and warning everyone to stay out of it.

'Daph! Stay out of it, Harry has to handle this!' Hermione sent urgently.

Daphne was practically incensed by her friend's attitude towards her boyfriend. She would be having words with her later.

Unfortunately for Daphne, her fate was sealed already.

"That's it! Miss. Greengrass, you will be serving detention with Mr. Potter tonight!" Umbridge screeched.

"Unacceptable!" Daphne cried angrily. "I will see what the Headmaster has to say about this!"

"Mr. Harris has no authority over when and why I assign detentions." Umbridge smiled smugly. "Now sit down! You have taken up enough of our time already!"

'Daphne, please sit down and I will take you to Dad after the lesson and we will explain it to you.' Harry sent. He had sat there watching the train wreck approaching.

The problem with being a friend to all his classmates and saving their lives and Xander showing evidence of it, was that they tended to stand up for him like Daphne had.

Even now the rest of class was silently fuming over Harry and Daphne's treatment. It was only the trio's assurances and warnings that kept them silent.

"Now then, put your wands away and take out your books. There are no practical's in this class."

"But how will we pass our exams?" Harry said quickly. He had to argue quickly before anyone else got themselves in trouble.

"I see Mr. Harris truly has failed to raise you properly, Mr. Potter. You have already been told to raise your hand if you have a question. Two days detention." She said with a sad shake of her head.

Harry rolled his eyes but raised his hand. Umbridge ignored him.

"As I was saying, there are no practical's in this class. The Ministry assigned reading is all you need to pass your exams."

Seeing Hermione turning red with anger, Harry jumped in. "But we still require practise for the ICW standard OWL exams."

"Mr. Potter! You were warned! Three days detention."

"Actually, you only said we had to put our hand up if we wanted to speak. Not that we had to wait to be acknowledged, you ignored me so I assumed you weren't purposefully being rude and that you meant for us to simply raise our hands as we spoke."

"That is not what I meant and you know it! Four days detention. Do other professors use such ridiculous rules?" She asked snidely.

"No, but they also have more manners than to ignore us." Daphne snapped back.

Harry just sent her a pleading look that screamed 'What are you doing?'

Daphne shrugged apathetically. "I already have detention, I might as well earn it."

Harry just pinched the bridge of his nose. "Miss Umbridge, how do you intend for us to pass our OWL exams without practical experience? Or do you intend to start your teaching career off with the lowest scores since Gilderoy Lockhart?" He asked tightly.

Hermione and the rest of the class looked on smugly and proudly as Harry put her in her place.

"Mr. Lockhart is an honoured man and destined for great things! You would do well not to besmirch his name. Five days!"

'Dad owes me big time for this.' Harry sighed inwardly. "And the OWL practical's?" He prodded.

"There are no reasons for you to need to be able to use these spells so the Ministry has deemed that you do not need to practice them." She declared with authority.

"If that's the case… why are we having this lesson at all?" Harry asked tiredly. "Doesn't it make you fairly redundant as a Professor?"

"Harry does make a valid point, Professor Umbridge."

Harry always thought Joyce looked like an angel when he was a first year. To his ears just now, she sounded like one too!

"Miss. Summers! This-"

"Lady Hogwarts, Professor. You will remember your place and your manners lest you anger my sons." She said as the door opened to reveal Sal, Godric, Xander and Minerva. "Now, what is this about not teaching the practical side of things?"

"The Ministry has deemed practical use of these spells too dangerous and prohibited their use." Umbridge said imperiously.

"The ICW has said otherwise." Minerva said tightly.

"That is for those above your station to decide." Umbridge declared as stared smugly at Minerva.

"Actually, that statement is far above your station." Xander snarled.

"What?" Sal asked in confusion.

"She was speaking out of place?" Xander tried.

"Boys, not now. I believe Xander got his point across." Joyce admonished lightly.

"It is nearly time for lunch. This class is dismissed for now." Minerva stated briskly.

Godric and Sal quickly began ushering the kids out quickly before Umbridge could object. She seemed to have stalled as she just stood there shaking with rage.

Rather than continue to argue with her, Joyce just ushered her boys and Minerva out of the room.

"Of all the stupid things that have happened in this school, this is the worst!" Daphne screeched as she paced angrily in front of Minerva's desk and berated a wincing Xander.

"Seemed like a fair idea to me." Harry pointed out timidly with a raised finger.

Sal and Godric nodded whilst Minerva scowled and Joyce shook her head in amusement.

"'Fair idea'? Your idea was to get detention with Umbridge and expect no one to stand up for you?" She demanded incredulously.

"I didn't think anyone would stand up for me if I did something worth a detention! Not my fault she started harassing me first!" He said defensively.

Daphne just chuckled amusedly. "Harry, what were you going to do? There are currently no stones of eternal life, basilisks, fugitives on the run or Dementors around for you to break the rules.

"In fact, the only time you have ever done anything worth a detention was when you and Neville put Malfoy's name in the Goblet of Fire! I still can't believe you got away without a detention!"

"He hasn't." Xander interjected. "I have a special punishment in mind for him, starting this year."

Daphne just flopped gracelessly into the nearest chair. "Where's Hermione? I'm sure she wants to rant at you both as well." She asked tiredly.

"What? What about them?" Xander demanded as he pointed at the rest of the adults.

"Please!" She said dismissively, instantly reminding him of Cordelia… and freaking him out a bit. "Professor McGonagall and Lady Hogwarts would have shot you down or come up with a better way. If Lord Gryffindor and Lord Slytherin were involved… they'd look much happier and smug-er. As it is, they both look disappointed at not being in on the plan.

"Besides, we all know you had to be behind this!" She said pointedly at Xander. "Just how badly did you have to guilt Harry into this?"

"ME?" Xander said defensively. Then he noticed Joyce and Minerva glaring at him and Sal and Rick smirking. "Fine, I didn't guilt him into it, just explained my… fears."

"Also known as 'guilting'." Joyce remarked dryly.

At this point the doors banged open as Hermione stormed in with Neville in tow and Daphne's best friend Tracy.

"What did you get my boyfriend into?" She demanded of Xander.

"So how long have they been shouting at you?" Neville asked with a grin as Hermione lit into Xander with a holy vengeance.

"Since we got here." Harry sighed. "And it was only Daph doing the shouting! Minerva and Joyce just sat there looking… angry. Sal and Rick enjoyed it too much." He said with a scowl.

"I just want to know why you didn't clue the rest of us in." Neville commented.

"Ask Dad. I was just following orders." Harry said with a grin.

"Following orders!" Daphne screeched. "I thought you were smarter than that! You are supposed to take over as King of the Goblins eventually, aren't you?"

"Oh Harry." Hermione said disappointedly, her rant at Xander interrupted by Daphne's screech.

"Don't blame me! How often does Dad come up with bad plans?" Harry countered.

"He attacked a giant basilisk from the end." Sal piped up.

"Thanks Sal." Xander muttered. "Look, can we just stop with the Xander-bashing and discuss this?" Xander demanded. "The only mistake I made was in not letting Harry tell anyone else. The only reason I told him not to is because not all of your fellow students can keep a secret."

"*cough*Lavender." Neville coughed into his fist.

"Yeah, I wasn't actually referring to the gossip girls, I was actually referring to Ron or Colin."

The others could only nod at that.

"But why would you want Harry to actively get detention?" Neville asked.

"Well, first of all, I wasn't expecting him to have to break school rules, just talking to her would have done it. She is a piece of work, I know from having met with her over the summer.

"But!" He continued hurriedly. "Because I know she is a piece of work, I don't trust her with the other students. I wanted Harry in her detentions in case she abused the kids. Harry has many talents that the rest of us don't."

"Yeah, he could swallow her whole." Tracy quipped.

"Turn her into her own best friend." Daphne added with a grin.

"Huh?" Neville queried.

"Make her into diamond." She clarified.

"Ah."

"I was thinking more along the lines of Harry's gifts with healing and seeing magic." Xander interrupted. "He can make sure she doesn't slip anything past him to hurt him or others."

"Ok, so noble ideas, poor planning and execution." Joyce offered.

"Seemed pretty well executed to me." Godric offered.

"Miss Greengrass has detention as well." Minerva scowled.

"Well… I think that comes under planning." Godric countered weakly.

"Look, it's done. There is a detention tonight. Can we focus on better planning for tonight?" Harry interrupted impatiently.

"Ah Mr. Potter and Miss Greengrass. I expected you would be a frequent participant in detentions, Potter. But Miss Greengrass, I expected much better from a girl from a family with such standing as yours." Umbridge said sternly as Harry and Daphne arrived for their detention.

"My family standing is none of your concern. You would do well to remember that." Daphne said haughtily. She didn't really bother with airs around her friends like Hermione, but with toadies like Umbridge… they needed to be reminded of their place.

"Will we be serving detention sitting in silence, may we at least do our homework?" Harry asked trying to remain a façade of neutrality. Truth was that he was fairly fed up with the woman.

"Miss Greengrass may pursue her studies, but you Potter… you need to learn your lesson!" She grinned maniacally. "You will be writing lines." She declared as she placed a quill and parchment in front of him.

Harry immediately examined both items for magic. The parchment was nothing special, but the quill was charmed six ways from Sunday. There was some sort of medical charm and a transference charm. But there were no Portkey charms or anything that would kidnap him.

Harry picked up the quill. "What should I write?" He asked calmly.

Umbridge was staring in open mouthed shock at Harry. The boys eyes had literally been shining, it was… unnerving.

"Lines, Professor?" Harry prompted.

"What? Oh- right, lines. You will write 'I must not tell lies.'"

"How many times?"

"Until it sinks in." She said with a smug grin.

'WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?'

Harry winced at Daphne's mental question. They had given her a crash course for the detention. She was still having issues with volume.

'Quieter Daphne.'

'Sorry.'

'Let's just get this over with.' Harry sighed as he took a seat. 'This quill has some familiar magic on it, I just can't remember from where.' He told her.

Harry took the quill and slowly began to write: 'I wi-'

'HARRY! Your hand!' Daphne managed to screech mentally without alerting Umbridge.

Harry looked at his had and saw what he had written etched into the back of his hand.

'Dammit, a blood quill.'

'Those are illegal, only goblins use them, and only for ancient forms and contracts.' Daphne scowled as she attempted to focus on her open book, not reading, just staring.

'I know. I had to use one when I became Lord Gryffindor and claimed my inheritance.'

'You have your evidence. We can go to the Heads now.' Daphne said firmly.

'Not yet, I want to give her a taste of her own medicine first.' Harry smirked as he stared at the quill.

"Problem Potter?" Umbridge asked with a sickly sweet smile.

"Not anymore Professor." A smiled back, causing the despicable woman to look worried.

Harry healed the back of his hand. Not very hard for someone who can grow body parts. Having 'adjusted' the magic of the quill, he began writing again.

I must not tell lies.

I must not tell lies.

I must not tell lies.

Daphne who was watching couldn't help but stare in amazement as the back of Harry's hands remained unblemished.

Umbridge was also watching and couldn't understand how he was able to write without the cuts appearing. There appeared to be blood on the page.

Something wet dribbled down her nose. She rubbed it with her hand and looked up.

Nothing there. She absently wiped her hands and cast a scourgify whilst still looking up in case the source reappeared.

'How are you doing that?' Daphne asked as she was transfixed by Harry's hand.

'I didn't like the goblin quills cutting me. I worked with them to change the targeting charm. Instead of moving around and taking blood like that, it simply took it straight from a vein.' Harry shrugged as he continued writing, a smirk on his face.

"ARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH" Umbridge suddenly screamed.

Daphne looked up in surprise to see Umbridge staring into a hand mirror with the words 'I must not tell lies' etched into her skin. It didn't take the smart Slytherin long to put the clues together.

"YOU!" Umbridge had her wand out and was pointing it threateningly at Harry as blood continued to stream down her face despite her other hand holding a handkerchief to her forehead.

"Me?" Harry asked in confusion. "Are you aware you are bleeding, Professor?"

"You did this!"

"Did what?"

"THIS!" She shouted as she gestured to her forehead.

"All I did is what you told me. Write lines." Harry shrugged expressionlessly.

"Oh I will see you in Azkaban-"

"Azkaban doesn't exist anymore." Daphne interjected smugly. Truth was she was feeling a little queasy with all that blood.

"Shut up you filthy bitch!" She snapped.

"I'm afraid you just crossed the line, Delores." Harry said as his face grew stormy.

"Mind your manners whelp!" She snapped.

"You first." Daphne snapped back.

"Why you little-"

"Enough!" Xander declared as he appeared in the room.

"Harris! Your stupid brat has done it now! He'll be kissed for this!" Umbridge ranted.

"Shut up Delores. It's time for you to understand the true nature of what you have done here." Xander said as he summoned her wand.

"I am a Ministry Official! You have no right!"

"At this precise moment, representatives from the ICW and the British Ministry are on their way here. You can explain to them under veritiserum how and why you felt the need to submit my son to a Blood Quill."

Umbridge paled. Through a combination of rage, shock and blood loss… she fainted.

The entire school listened, enraptured as Xander regaled them with the tale of how Harry defeated the Evil Witch – Umbitch.

They then witnessed their Headmaster being smacked up the back of the head by his mother for bad language.

But he continued his story, which ended with cheers. And a few frowns and scowls. Sal was ashamed that some of the students in his house were actually wanting to follow in their parents footsteps and become Death Eaters. He actually had Godric's hat shoved up the fireplace with protective charms just to add another layer of protection for his innocent students. Fortunately the first years through third years seemed not to be inclined that way.

"So… we currently have no dada Professor, and we really need a dada Professor. I, myself can't be a dada-"

"Xander! Stop saying… that!" Minerva snapped causing the younger students to giggle.

Xander continued without missing a beat. "End of last year, when we lost Professor Moody, I asked why we couldn't keep a Professor for more than a year. Professor McGonagall informed me that it is rumoured that Voldemort, AKA Tom Riddle, placed a curse on the position because old Dumbledore refused him the job.

"About the only good decision I've known him to make!" He muttered.

"So! Let's ignore the fact that Um… bridge, failed to make it a week… or day, and focus on how to break the curse! Any ideas?" He asked happily as Minerva started to rub her temples in agitation. Albus was a lazy day in the park compared to Xander who was more like a week at Alton Towers, that was the analogy Hermione had provided, and having escorted the girls with Dan and Emma over the summer, she was inclined to agree.

"Yes, Mark! What's your idea?" Xander asked the brave young Hufflepuff.

"Kill V-v-v-"

"If you're gonna have trouble with his title, just call him 'Tom'. That is the name his mother gave him after all." Joyce encouraged kindly.

"Kill… Tom?" He said hesitantly.

"Ha! A beautiful yet simplistic solution." Xander grinned giving him two thumbs up. "Only problem being that Tom is a coward and until he gets brave enough to show his face, we can't carry that one out.

"Anyone else?"

"Theo!" Xander called out.

"It's Theodore. Professor." The Slytherin gritted out. "Why not simply allow the Dark Lord to teach?"

"You mean other than the fact that he will probably kill three quarters of the student body?" Harry asked as he suppressed a smirk.

"You could expel the unwanted… students, making your point moot." Theodore smirked back.

"And kind of makes the point of having a school 'moot'. Next!"

Luna suddenly shot up. "Offer Tom Riddle the job!" She declared happily.

"Ok Sweetheart, I'm going to assume you have a fair bit more to it than repeating Theodore's idea." He said as he sat down and put his feet up prepared for some excellent entertainment from his daughter.

Said feet were promptly hexed from the table by both Minerva and Joyce.

"Offer the job to Tom Riddle as opposed to 'Lord Voldemort'. If he agrees and turns up… we chop his head off. Otherwise we appoint a substitute in his place, or several. At the end of the year, he might have killed himself with his own curse."

Xander just sat there with an amused smile. "That is sooo much better than my idea! I love it!"

"Enough! Xander you will tell us your plan now or I will ensure that your wives spend the night elsewhere! Due back today, aren't they?" Joyce asked smugly.

"That's… inhumane!" Xander gasped. "Fine, but I'm holding Luna's in reserve, well, really it's Luna's and Theo's." Xander grinned as the aforementioned boy paled.

"Ok, so, Tom cursed the position. Only two people alive have successfully defeated Tom. Harry and Me. Harry has a better track record than me, and a bigger tally in general. So, if Harry takes the job, then he likely also has the power to defeat the curse.

"I may even write a story about it. Harry Potter and the Curse of Dada."

There was a moments silence.

"You want to put my boyfriend right in the path of the curse?" Came the very irate voice of Hermione.

"Actually I want to put the curse right in the path of Harry." Xander clarified. He quickly realised that he was about to be accused of doing the same thing that he did by making Harry get detention with Umbridge. "Look, only one Professor has died because of that curse, and that particular Professor had Riddle sticking out the back of his head and Harry was the one to kill him! To be honest… Voldemort is the only real victim of this curse."

There was a good few seconds silence as they all absorbed this fact.

"Can I just point out that I don't know how to teach!" Harry argued as he worried they were going to go along with his father's hair-brained scheme.

There was another pause before Cedric spoke up. "Sorry Harry, but you did a pretty good job with Fleur, Viktor and myself. I'd learn from you again."

"You taught me telepathic communication in less than a day, you must have some skill." Daphne added.

"There might be one problem." Cho offered hesitantly. "How will a fifth year who hasn't taken his OWL's teach NEWT students?"

"AHA!" Harry declared triumphantly as he pointed at Xander.

Xander stood up and sighed. "There are two types of books that Harry reads: Healing and Defence. His reasoning is that if he knows about the curses and defences he can understand how to counter and heal them. Professor Flamel has run out of things to teach him!"

"Quite true!" Nicholas chuckled. "Harry could easily take his NEWTs and for those of you who don't read such publications, the Australian Medical Council has declared Harry a registered and qualified healer."

"What about his other classes?" Hermione argued. "He still has the rest of his OWLs to sit and study. How will he do that whilst teaching and marking? He doesn't even know how to mark!"

Harry had never loved Hermione more, she was his saviour!

"Once Harry's parents died, he became the richest person in the magical world. After I took over at Gringotts and began managing his accounts, he became the richest person in the world.

"Harry has no need to earn a living. Harry will teach Dada and study which ever subject he wants over as many years as he wants."

"You keep saying 'Harry will'. Has the decision already been made?" Terry asked curiously.

"Pretty much." Xander said seriously.

"WHAT!" Several people including Harry and Hermione screeched as a general roar of outrage filled the hall.

"SILENCE!" Xander roared angrily. There was instant compliance. They had never seen the usual jovial Headmaster in anger against them. Even when Luna had been attacked, or Harry, the anger was contained and controlled and directed elsewhere.

"There are a few things you need to understand here. I value and request your input. But I am still the Headmaster and Harry's father.

"I have to do what is best for you all and the school. Harry is the best Professor you could all hope for. He has the skills and attitude to serve you well.

"But I am also his Headmaster. As well as his father. Harry committed a serious infraction last year when he entered Draco Malfoy into the Tournament. This is his punishment." Xander said sternly.

Harry suddenly lost all desire to argue and fight against this. This was pretty tame considering his actions led to the deaths of hundreds.

"I'll do it." Harry said quietly as he stood.

Neville had remained silent through this all. He knew that Harry hated being in front of people, but he also agreed that Harry was the best candidate.

"As Harry's accomplice in the aforementioned infraction, I request my punishment be my assignment as his assistant for as long as he holds the post."

"Neville, shut up and sit down!" Harry hissed quietly.

Neville just chuckled. "Harry, I may not be as rich as you, but I am immortal. I have different reasons for being able to do this, but the same reasons for needing to do this."

"Agreed Neville." Xander told him.

"So you admit that Potter's actions caused the death of all those people?" Zacharias Smith stated imperiously.

"Shut up and sit down boy!" Xander snapped angrily. He was getting distinctly irate at the moment. "Harry had nothing to do with Draco's actions. Harry was entered against his will, but Draco was entered without his knowledge. A big difference. Draco said time and again how he wanted to compete and would win. None of the other Champions acted recklessly."

"The decision has been made. Harry will begin teaching his lessons starting next week after he has had time to examine lesson plans." Nicholas declared loudly. Things were getting out of hand. "Off you all go, amuse yourselves."

He may just be a Professor, but he was a well-respected man, not even Joyce or Godric would argue with him about this.

The girls had commandeered the Astronomy Tower and the boys were steering well clear of it. Just in case they accidentally caused themselves to become the target of their ire. As was their custom they had set up deck chairs in a circle and where sipping various hot drinks, they had upgraded to recliners in light of the trial. It was something they tended to do at the beginning of the year to catch up on summer gossip. Not that Hermione would ever admit that it was gossip.

A majority of all the years were present, including a newly returned Nym and Fleur.

"So, Hermione. Are you upset that Harry is being forced to be a professor or upset that he will have less time for you?" Nym asked with a grin.

"Both!" She said unashamedly.

"Why though?" Fleur asked. "My understanding is that he will not be attending other classes, his workload is not increased, just… replaced. He is teaching instead of listening, marking instead of doing homework."

"Yes… but…" Hermione huffed as she lost her argument.

"Is this another servitude thing?" Padma asked.

"Servitude thing?" Fleur asked.

"She spent most of her second and third year ranting and raving over the rights of House Elves. She would have gotten in big trouble if she had gone through with her plans." Pavarti giggled in memory.

"She was going to secretly leave clothes for the elves to pick so they would be free." Padma finished.

"And in doing so condemn dozens of elves to death?" Fleur asked in horror.

Hermione just sat there red faced and very ashamed.

"Don't worry, we sorted her out. It was nearly a lost cause though as Luna tried to reason with her." Pavarti laughed.

"Why was that a bad thing?" Fleur asked.

It was Nym who answered with a laugh. "Our sweet step-daughter is highly intelligent, but she has a very unique perspective on life. Logic and common sense don't always appear to apply to her."

Fleur had spent a fair amount of time with Xander, his children and their best friends. Luna was her secret favourite, she was so care free and excitable, yet seemingly totally at peace. She couldn't understand what they were talking about. So she just shrugged.

"At least that Umbridge woman is gone." She scowled. "I am surprised that Daphne, was the one who wound up in detention with Harry. I would have thought for sure that the muggleborns would have."

"I only got detention because I was first out of my seat to object to her. It wasn't just her accusations against Harry, it was her whole lack of respect for him as a Peer. It was disgusting." Daphne spat.

Hermione huffed in indignation.

"Hermione?" Nym queried.

"This whole peerage business is utter crap! They haven't done anything special, they haven't earned the title! They were given it because their parents died." She ranted.

There was a good few seconds silence as they either absorbed that argument or tried to come up with a counter.

"What about those who have earned it?" Ginny asked quietly.

"And what, exactly, can anyone do to earn that sort of title?" Hermione countered.

"Lead a country, stand up for those who need it?" Ginny offered.

"Defeat a dark lord to save people." Nym added.

"Bring about great change for the betterment of all innocents." Padma offered.

"But why do any of those things mean they should be treated better than the rest of us?" Hermione argued.

"It doesn't." Fleur answered. "But that doesn't mean they don't deserve to be treated with a certain degree of greater respect and acknowledgement."

"And who decides that?"

"We do. We decide by how we treat them. Not all members of the peerage are treated with the same levels of respect, some are just tolerated."

"Also, you need to learn to watch your words and your attitude, Hermione." Susan warned. "Not only am I going to be Lady Bones, but Daphne is set to be Lady Greengrass and Hannah, Lady Abbott."

Hermione looked mortified as she noticed Hannah scowling at her.

"You also need to remember to respect other cultures. You also came close to insulting myself and Pavarti." Padma warned.

"Worst of all, she is insulting Harry, and herself as she is due to become Lady Gryffindor… if she does marry Harry." Cho added.

"Pfft, Harry can keep the titl-OW!"

Hermione was caught off-guard as Daphne delivered an echoing slap to her cheek.

"I am seriously beginning to doubt your feelings and intentions for Harry." She snarled. "If you truly love him then you will accept him regardless of his titles and because of them! You should know better than all of us that he had no real family for most of his childhood, now he has a family who will do anything for him… has done anything for him! If I ever hear you say anything like that again about Harry or anything you might receive from him out of love or kindness… well, I will be extremely vexed!"

Hermione scowled and was about to snap back. But she was shocked to see the rest of the girls glaring angrily at her.

"I warned you Hermione." Came a light yet serious voice from the door to the stairwell. They all turned to see Luna standing there with a disappointed look on her face. "You have done well to curb some of your other – less than pleasant aspects, but you still have trouble accepting other peoples opinions and cultures.

"The wedding vows speak of being together for richer or poorer. You seem to be ignoring the fact that Harry is richer, and not just in money. He doesn't realise how many friends and allies he has, but he is very rich in them." She said as she indicated the assembled girls.

There was a tense silence, Hermione new full well that Luna had warned her. All her sense of self was based her beliefs, she abhorred the history of slavery and how the nobility abused their position. But she realised too often that she would speak without considering others and their personal views and beliefs, not to mention their circumstances.

"I'm just a regular old commoner." Tracy grinned. "But Daphne is my best friend. She may only inherit her title, but I don't believe you should judge her before she has had a chance to do anything with her title."

"Besides, seeing as we know all these noble ladies, we can hope to be invited to their balls and fancy do's." Lavender sniffed snootily. "I still say we should have another ball."

"So does Xander." Nym assured her. "And Joyce. Apparently they have similar events in American schools, they call them dances and proms, Xander has conscripted Fleur and me to give culture lessons about living with non-magicals… we're even going to be getting televisions for the school!"

"I don't understand why we didn't just have them before, Joyce had one since first year after all." Hermione asked, thankful for the change in direction.

"I had to do a lot of convincing amongst the elves to get that TV!" Joyce explained as she appeared in her own chair. "I had them steal it from a store and leave gold in it's place."

"I thought you conjured it!" Hermione exclaimed slightly disappointed.

Joyce just laughed. "No, I'm good, but not that good! But the reason I didn't let Xander buy them now was because a) they were too expensive for the average family and b) I didn't trust magicals to simply steal one, besides, they wouldn't know about electricity to use it!"

"What else will you be teaching us?" Daphne asked Nym and Fleur, as a Pureblood she was raised in near complete seclusion from the non-magical world.

"Everything!" Nym said with pure excitement. "And the best part is that most of our classes will be out in the muggle world, learning by doing."

"Won't that be dangerous, with Death Eaters, Voldemort and the Ministry on the loose?" Susan asked.

"We'll have a whole host of werewolf and goblin guards, werewolves will be visible and goblins invisible."

"We also intend to take you to other countries." Fleur added. "Britain is tiny compared to the rest of the world, not everything you will see is going to be fun. You will learn a lot about what is wrong with the world." She warned.

"Let me guess, that was Harry's suggestion." Padma smirked.

Fleur just nodded. It was well known that Harry had a habit of trying to help people, he didn't realize it but the Potter's Magical Orphanage currently had several first years attending Hogwarts, Harry was their hero as his money and generosity had pulled them off of the streets of muggle London. They were happy to respect the instructions of Harry's father that he wasn't to know where they came from or treated as anything special because that's what he wanted. But that didn't stop them from being friendly.

The local constabularies had proved less than useful. There were no hints of magic, even those that were well documented in the magical world. Even the break out in the Reptile House at London Zoo was undocumented.

This left one option. Move up the food chain. Scotland Yard. After this, the next option would be MI5, Parliament or Downing Street. There had to be some form of communication between the two worlds. Wizards just weren't that good at staying invisible, why else were there teams of Obliviators.

*Chapter 37*: Chapter 37  
Harry was fervently studying his lesson plans in preparation for his first classes the coming Monday. He knew he could teach those younger than him, he just didn't know how he would deal with those his age or older. Why should they respect him? Should he give out detentions to those older than him if they didn't behave?

It was a nightmare!

His current nightmare was interrupted by the sound of Amelia Bones storming into the living room, he quickly joined the rest of the family to hear what new trouble had arisen.

Amelia was currently pacing and muttering angrily under her breath.

"Stupid Fudge… blasted conniving backstabbing little peasant… corrupted stinky wanker-"

"Amelia, dear, would you care to tell us why you are in such a tizzy?" Minerva asked patiently.

Amelia stopped and stared at her friend. "I've been fired." She declared bluntly.

"What! On what grounds?" Minerva demanded.

"He accused me of not supporting the Ministry!"

"And he has the power to do this?" Xander asked.

"Unfortunately. It gets worse, he had Dumbledore removed as the Chief Warlock."

"That's not so bad." Harry shrugged.

"And replaced him with Lucius Malfoy."

"Oh sweet Merlin." Nym gasped. "I am so glad I quit and am now married to Xander!"

"Who replaced you?" Hermione asked worriedly.

Amelia slumped into a chair and the hardened witch began to cry. "Gilderoy Lockhart." She sobbed.

"Mothe-"

"Harry!" Joyce warned sternly.

"Oh god, that's beautiful!" Xander laughed.

Amelia shot him a dirty look.

"Seriously, I have the perfect job for you and it will be sooo much fun to watch Lockhart flounder, especially when Tom begins his plans."

"What job… if I found you had anything to do with my being fired…" She warned angrily as she wiped the tears away.

"No no no no no! I just had a plan to screw with the Ministry in a kind of passive way. I need a mayor for a local town under my control."

"I thought Remus was doing a good job with the Werewolf village." Minerva frowned.

"Oh, he is. Narcissa handles the day to day stuff whilst he teaches and runs the school.

"No, Hogsmede."

"Isn't that Ministry jurisdiction?" She asked.

"Absolutely not!" Joyce declared in outrage. "Hogsmede is quite literally, my personal property, due to my current status, of being dead, I left it to my son Xander. It was a gift to me from Arthur."

"Arthur?"

"As in the King Arthur, friend of Merlin, wielder of Excalibur?" Joyce prompted in amusement at Amelia's disbelief. "Regardless, I have the paperwork."

Amelia sighed. "I don't think the Ministry will be quite as… accommodating as to simply withdraw."

"The Ministry currently has no presence in Hogsmede. There is nothing for them to withdraw, every resident signed a lease with the Landowner that clearly states they are residing on the lands of Hogwarts.

"I think its about time that the Ministry realises that there is a limit to what they can do." Xander said seriously. "Hogsmede is more than just the village, it is also the farmland. From this point on, any member of the Ministry found on my property without my explicit permission is guilty of trespassing."

"You may do the same for Godric's Hollow." Rick smiled. "The land was also given to me by Uncle Arthur. It's Harry's now, of course." He said with an apologetic look as he realised he had stepped on his successors toes.

"Sounds fine to me… aside from the more responsibilities." Harry sighed.

"Might as well include Newcastle then."

Everyone apart from Joyce and Rick just stared at him.

"Newcastle… as in the city of?" Amelia asked.

"What? I told you, I am the Greatest of the Hogwarts Four!" Sal grinned as he spoke imperiously.

Godric just snorted and Joyce looked on with an indulgent smile.

"Fine." He relented as everyone continued to stare at him. "I was the youngest, I was also Uncle Arthur's favourite and he made me his caretaker successor in the event he had no heirs."

"Wouldn't that make you the King of England?" Harry asked.

"No, only the High Steward. I can only take action if the safety and security of the British Isles is at risk and the current ruling authority is not handling it."

"Will it be Mayor Bones or Governor Bones or something else?" Harry asked bringing the topic back to where it started, no one was ready to handle Sal as the ruler of the British Empire.

"Mayor Bones will do." Xander shrugged. "What do you say Amelia?"

"It is not as if I have anything else to do." She sighed glumly. "We should all be at the Ministry tomorrow for the Wizengamot session where Lucius is installed."

"I'll go and grab Hermione and we'll see if we can't research some solutions." Neville said as he stood and vanished.

"What should I do?" Harry asked.

"Get back to your lesson plans, anything else you can already handle." Joyce informed him.

Scotland yard had proved to be the entrance point. No real information was stored or filed anywhere in the building, but there were plenty of references of information and cases being forwarded on to MI5.

It had taken some time, but anyone who used the telephone booth to access the Ministry of Magic recognised the reference number prefixed to each case number.

So now came the tricky part. Infiltrating MI5. The security was far tighter and information was stored on computers more than paper. It would clearly take several days of monitoring and surveillance before patterns could be predicted and useful information gleaned.

But there was time.

For now.

"All those in favour of appointing the honourable Lucius Malfoy as Chief Warlock?"

"AYE!" A majority of hands rose.

"All those opposed."

"NAY!" A grand total of thirteen hands rose for a combined total of nine votes.

"At 41 to 9, the Ayes have it. Congratulations Chief Warlock." Fudge announced gleefully. Now he had a real way of changing the laws.

"Chief Warlock, before we begin, I believe we must address a matter of great importance to this esteemed body.

"It has come to my attention that one of our members is casting votes despite not being a British citizen.

"The so-called 'Lord Hogwarts' is an American, and according to his stories, not even from this reality! As such he is not eligible to hold the votes he currently does!"

'Xander, quick stand up and relinquish your Hogwarts, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff votes to Harry as your son!' Neville sent quickly.

Xander was a little slow at first as he digested what Neville said, but he quickly stood.

"I, Lord Hogwarts hereby relinquish control of the Hogwarts-"

"NO!" Fudge screamed

"-Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff titles along with all their votes, rights and privileges to my son, Lord Harry Potter of Gryffindor."

There was a flash of magic and the deed was done.

"Transfer acknowledged. After one year this may be made permanent." The magical announcement came.

Fudge was staring in shock and horror. He had been counting on having the Wizengamot assign those votes to himself. It wasn't just the voting rights, but the right to call himself 'Lord Ravenclaw'. People had great respect for the house of the learned, a leader of the people affiliated with that house would lead for a lifetime.

Malfoy simply smirked. "It would appear that your presence is no longer warranted, Harris. Please leave."

"Actually, he is still Lord Hogwarts, he doesn't hold the power but he does still hold the respect and titles. Furthermore, he is a true king and disrespecting him would not be good.

"Lastly, he is here as our advisor and counsel as permitted by the Wizengamot Charter." Neville informed the smarmy bastard.

"As a side matter, should the Chief Warlock or anyone else see fit to besmirch the honour of anyone in my family, they will face me in a Wizards Duel." Harry growled.

That one shut Malfoy and Fudge right up. It also caused the rest of the Wizengamot to quail slightly. The boy might be young, but he was clearly quite powerful and skilled. Coupled with his access to Harris' unnatural magics and a wizard would have to be suicidal to challenge the boy.

"Perhaps we should move on." Lord Abbott suggested nervously, he was not a physical fighter, he was more than willing to oppose Fudge and Malfoy, but he had no desire to see their innards on their outards.

"Very well, our first order of business is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Lucius announced. "It seems that they are in violation of the contracts and treaties with the government and have removed the honoured Undersecretary, Madam Delores Umbridge.

"As such, we need to take action as permitted by the treaties."

"Hogwarts has done no such thing. It was the Ministry who violated the treaties when Umbridge used blood quills on students. Considering she was a political figure and committed her crimes on foreign soil without the protection of diplomatic immunities, she was turned over to the French government acting on behalf of the ICW." Sal countered.

"The real question will be, what will Hogwarts reaction be to the Ministry's attack?"

"Regardless, Hogwarts is without a Headmaster as-"

"Don't be stupid Malfoy!" Sal snapped. "My brother may have relinquished his powers to Lord Gryffindor, but he is still the owner and Headmaster of the School. Just as he is still the King of the Goblins."

"Perhaps we should leave the subject of Hogwarts until you have been able to consult with the ICW." Xander mused. "For now, I would like an explanation of why Fudge fired Madam Bones and appointed that fool Lockhart in her place!"

"How I run my government is none of your concern!" Fudge declared smugly.

"It is if it affects the safety and security of the people. Especially when a good deal of them are my students and their families." Xander countered.

"I have to agree." Lord Byron Abbott spoke up. "The man is clearly a fraud, why would you even consider appointing him when The Dark Lord has been reported to have returned?"

"That is an absolute lie!" Fudge snapped. "You-Know-Who is dead! He has not returned!"

"So… you are calling me a liar?" Harry asked as he stood up with his palms flat on the table.

"Or miss-informed." Malfoy interjected smoothly. Now that he was Chief Warlock, he didn't need Fudge, but he didn't need the man causing stupid problems.

"And you have evidence that contradicts my testimony… under veritiserum?"

Fudge was smug at this, he had planned for this. "Any information regarding those sorts of matters would be deemed classified."

Harry was a little stumped at that. He could demand that the Wizengamot had the right to verify it, but with Malfoy at the helm and the whole lot behind him, it was unlikely to happen.

"We don't need to know the nature of the evidence, we merely need testimony under veritiserum that incontrovertible evidence exists that proves Riddle has not returned." Xander countered. He had dealt with a few governments in his time as a Watcher. He was used to working around them.

That was something Lucius couldn't allow. He knew full well that the Dark Lord was back, as did the Unspeakable who claimed otherwise. He had been present at the Dark Lord's resurrection.

"I'm afraid that would not be possible as the witness in question is an Unspeakable, they must not be allowed to become vulnerable to releasing the secrets of their jobs." Lucius said calmly.

Sirius frowned slightly at that. He knew that was wrong. Unfortunately he couldn't reveal that he knew it was wrong.

"Perhaps we could move on to another topic." Malfoy interrupted smoothly. "It appears that Hogwarts is once again in need of a new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor." He said with a mocking smile. "I must say, it does call into question your abilities as a Headmaster, Mr-"

"Lord Hogwarts." Harry snapped.

"Of course." Malfoy said with a dismissive wave.

"Really?" Xander asked. "I had nothing to do with Quirrell or Lockhart other than to chop Quirrell's head off because Riddle was sticking out the back, and Lockhart endangered the students. I didn't hire them.

"As for Headmaster Lupin, he was the perfect professor. It was no trouble to cover his lessons during the full moon. I wasn't the one who objected to his position.

"Incidentally, he had the highest grades in NEWTs and OWLs in the past forty years.

"Now, Moody. He was always a temporary placement and one of the best right behind Headmaster Lupin.

"So, how exactly does this reflect poorly on my abilities?" Xander asked pointedly.

"Because you are the Headmaster and the responsibilities are yours." Malfoy snapped. "Regardless, we require a new professor and-"

"The position has already been filled."

"WHAT!" Fudge roared. "I was not informed and have not approved!"

"Well… it doesn't really concern you. The treaties only grant you authority if the Headmaster and his staff request Ministry intervention. However, you broke those treaties so they no longer count." Sal said boredly.

"But-"

"You did actually read the treaties? I actually wrote them so I don't need to. But the fact remains, Hogwarts is not your concern.

"Shall we move on?"

For the next few hours Malfoy and Fudge tried to squeeze everything past them from Aurors in Hogsmede to the power to confiscate vaults at Gringotts. They were quickly shut down.

When it came to other, general matters that related directly to Magical Britain, they had a harder time. They successfully managed to pass stricter laws regarding werewolves and the inclusion of Veela as Dark Creatures.

A law was added that required all citizens to register any magical abilities such as Parseltongue or being a metamorphamagus.

These things angered them severely, but they were powerless to fight them.

When Lucius proposed a Marriage Law where men of certain status could bind women to them in order to 'improve the population', the Wizengamot realised they had crossed the line.

"Muggles seem to breed like rats. They have infested our great land. Every year more and more mud-muggleborns come into our world." Lucius said seriously.

"And yet our numbers are slowly dwindling. If these… weak blooded muggleborns are going to infect our world, then we should ensure they are beneficial to us.

"I propose a law that allows Purebloods to take multiple women as concubines or mistresses in order to allow muggleborn women to contribute appropriately to our society by producing heirs for-"

"ANYONE WHO AGREES TO THIS WILL DIE!" Harry roared angrily.

The members of the Wizengamot were either white with fear or passed out from the sight of the massive black dragon with fire and smoke literally leaking from its nose and mouth Harry's natural awareness of his size as a dragon had caused the building to expand and the surrounding members to be shunted to the sides.

"So!" Sal declared cheerfully. "Any volunteers to put this motion forward?"

There was a long silence.

"I think that was a 'no', Lucy." Xander smirked.

None of his family would argue that Harry was out of line.

Lucius quickly scanned his list.

He glanced fearfully at the enraged dragon.

"I… I b-b-believe we are d-d-done for the d-d-d-d-day!" He stuttered in terror.

Needless to say the chamber was quickly vacated.

After the attempted Marriage Law and dragon fiasco in the Wizengamot that morning, it was time to take things to the next level.

It was clear that Scotland Yard was aware of magic, even if they did nothing. MI5 was more active. They rarely interfered, but they certainly observed and seemed to have a good understanding of where the magical places where in Britain and who the movers and shakers were.

MI5 gave constant reports to Number 10.

Which lead to his current presence, seated on a comfortable chair in the corner of the Prime Minister's office, quietly and invisibly observing the room. There was a portrait in the corner, a magical portrait.

Regardless of the purpose of the Portrait, it was clear the Ministry of Magic was spying on Number 10.

The fireplace was connected to the Floo and there were various monitoring charms around the room.

It was time to set the plans in motion.

He calmly vacated the office, once again startling the secretary and guard as the door opened and closed on it's own. He made his way to the third floor and the private residence.

It had been a long day, it was time for relaxation. But he was the Prime Minister, it would be a good few years before he was able to relax properly. Mark Bloomfield, the Prime Minister for England was going through the newspapers and making sure he was up to speed for tomorrow in case he got waylaid by some sneaky reporter.

In an hour or so he would head to bed and cuddle his wife. Something that he didn't need to sign a dozen forms for.

"I came here to find out just how much you knew about the wizarding world." Mark was startled as he noticed the young lad sitting on the sofa across from his armchair. "Judging by the fact that you have several magical papers waiting for you, I'm guessing the answer is: 'a lot'."

The young man didn't look like he was out of school yet. He had bright green eyes and messy hair. What gave him away was the lightning shaped scar on his forehead.

"L-L-Lord Gryffindor." Mark said as respectfully as he could. He had after all just read about his dragon coming out to play this morning in the Wizengamot.

Harry was a little shocked that he was known to this man. And it showed.

Mark held up the front page of the Daily Prophet which had his picture all over it.

"Oh, right." Harry blushed. "Look, I came here to find out what you know about the Magical World and hopefully get some help." He said pleadingly.

At that moment the doors burst open and several men with guns came bursting in.

Harry immediately threw up a diamond wall between himself and the Prime Minister.

"Are these yours?" Harry asked worriedly.

"Erm… what?" Mark asked as he tried to comprehend what was probably the most expensive object in the world. "Oh, yes! They are my bodyguards."

"Can you get them to lose the guns?" Harry asked nervously.

"Step away from the Prime Minister or we will shoot!" The lead man said. They were all dressed in tactical armour.

"Erm, ok." Harry said as he took a step to his left. "Now what?" He asked the Prime Minister.

Mark looked at the young man and then back at the men with large guns and the diamond wall that separated them. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you honestly here just to talk?" Mark asked.

"Yep, here I'll prove it."

The next thing he knew he was standing in a large cave with several dragons around him and Lord Gryffindor was hissing and growling at them. Mark started backing away only to stumble into something warm.

He screeched and stumbled back when he saw the trio of smallish dragons, clearly hatchlings.

The next thing he knew, he was back at Number 10 and the men were banging on the wall with their gun butts.

"See, if I wanted to do anything else, I would. And I probably wouldn't warn you." Harry shrugged as he sat back down.

"Gentlemen, perhaps you should stand down. Set up a perimeter to ensure we aren't disturbed." Mark ordered.

"Sir, we-"

"Captain, there is very little you could do that would affect or hinder this man. Everything I have read about him suggests he is very honest and means no harm."

"I want to leave two guards in the room sir."

"Very well, but I advise against any rash movements." He turned back to Harry. "They won't do anything other than monitor us."

Harry frowned but waved his hand and the wall vanished.

Mark took his seat in the armchair as the men started taking their positions or filing out.

"So, Lord Gryffindor-"

"Just Harry sir."

"Oh, then call me Mark. Few people do these days with any affection." He sighed. "Now, what did you want to talk about that couldn't be done through official channels?"

"Official channels?" Harry asked.

"The Ministry of Magic usually informs me of any need to meet through a portrait in my office."

"Right… the Ministry. They would be the reason I am here. They are corrupt." Harry frowned as he leaned forward.

"I would tend to agree." Mark said, surprising Harry. Mark laughed. "What they tell me doesn't match up with what the papers say. It isn't hard to figure that out."

"But I'm guessing you employ wizards somewhere." Harry ventured. "How else would you get magical papers. Plus MI5 seems pretty well informed."

"Hmm, you've been… snooping?" Mark frowned.

"I didn't want to just appear to the wrong person. I started at police stations and worked my way through law enforcement 'til I found records of magic."

"Smart enough plan." Mark conceded. "So what has made you come to me?"

"Do you know about the whole blood status crap in Magical Britain?" Harry asked as he sat back.

"Muggleborn, half-blood and pureblood?"

"Yeah. So, I was wondering, I guess that 'purebloods'" he said with air-quotes "wouldn't be registered in the non-magical world. Being born at home or in magical hospitals, same for most half-bloods.

"But the first generation witches and wizards, they would have records and stuff in the non-magical world, right?" Harry queried.

"Of course, we actually tag all the magicals born in our world in their records so we are aware if we need to consult with the magical world." Mark nodded.

"Wouldn't that make them non-magical British citizens?" Harry asked pointedly. "Take my girlfriend, Hermione. She is a first generation. Her mum showed me her birth certificate once, I'd never seen one before. She is registered with her doctor, opticians and dentists. She even intends to apply for a drivers licence.

"So is she one of your… you know… people?"

"I believe you mean 'constituents'. And yes, by those rules, she is under my government." Mark admitted.

"Then what are you going to do to protect your 'constituents'? Especially when they are likely going to be subjected to more crap like that Marriage Law the Wizengamot tried to push through this morning and when Riddle starts his campaign… Riddle will actively target your citizens… magical and non." Harry demanded as he leant forward aggressively.

Mark was stumped. It was always assumed that magicals of any type where out of his jurisdiction. Of course, he only had the word of that idiot Fudge. MI5 mainly focused on threat reports and general goings on in the Magical world. Not the points of law.

"I don't know if we can. It could be tantamount to war… and in our own back yard." Mark warned.

"The war will be happening in your own home if you don't do something about it. Riddle hates first generations and non-magicals. He will send his Death Eaters out to kill, torture and rape. As they can't rape magicals anymore, they will get their kicks from non-magicals!"

Mark paled. It was tough enough dealing with the various conflicts across the globe. To have pitched battles in his own country was… unthinkable.

And yet here was this young boy making him think about it.

"What does the queen know about the magical world?" Harry asked shocking Mark out of his stupor.

"I- I honestly don't know. She knows what we report to her, but it always seems as if there is something else to her knowledge. Something that she doesn't share." Mark admitted with a frown.

"Maybe we could go and see her?" Harry asked. "Find out for sure."

"It could take some time, there are procee-"

Mark blinked in surprise as he found himself standing in front of Buckingham Palace. He looked up to see the Royal Standard flying proudly. The queen was home.

"Harry, we can't just march into the Queen's bedroom!" Mark scolded.

"Why? I do intend to knock." Harry grinned.

"The guards will see us and there will be chaos!" He pleaded.

"They can't see or hear us. We are completely invisible." Harry grinned as he strode forward. He marched straight up to the nearest guard staring straight forward with his bearskin hat and red uniform and waved his hand in front of him.

"See, can't see us at all!"

"Harry, they wouldn't move even if they could see you." Mark said with a bemused smile. "You've never been to Buckingham Palace before?"

"Never had a chance… why wouldn't he move?"

"It's what their trained to do. They barely even sway in the wind!"

"Are they models? Nope, definitely not models." He muttered as he examined them with his magical sight. He marched over to the other guard. "Can we get this one called off duty?"

"You know him?" Mark asked walking quickly over.

"No, but he's very ill, his kidneys are bad, I can fix them." Harry said absently as he continued to stare at the man.

"You're a qualified healer?"

"Qualified, yes." Harry said slowly. "Recognised by the Chief of the Australian Magical Medical Council. And the ICW of course.

"Ah screw it." He sighed. He carefully phased behind the man and started casting healing magic on the unwitting soldier. "Guess we'll just have to let the docs think they misdiagnosed him, if they even caught it yet.

"Oh well, let's see the Queen and then she can call him in." Harry then proceeded to march through the gates with Mark hurrying in behind him.

"Harry, this could become a huge incident!" Mark said worriedly.

"Bigger than a war that leads to the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians?" Harry asked with a smile not breaking stride.

"Touché."

Harry stopped in the grand entrance way.

"Problem?"

"Erm… just a small one. I don't know where she is." Harry admitted with a grin.

Mark sighed. He didn't bother trying to stop the young man. There was no telling what he would do. He might do anything from making the whole building invisible to simply opening every door. There were a lot of them.

"Follow me." He said wearily.

Mark led Harry up some stairs and through various corridors until they came across armed men in military uniform.

"Her Majesty should be through here. We really should let the guards know." Mark cautioned.

"If we do, will they still let us see her?" The answer was written clearly on Mark's face. "Exactly, let's go!" Harry declared as he opened the door.

Mark just groaned and hoped he wouldn't go to jail for this.

Once inside Harry threw up some wards for privacy. He also decided he needed to come up with a variant of the Notice-Me-Not charm, which he would call it the Consider-It-Done charm where anyone approaching the warded area would think they had already accomplished what they intended to do there. In this case, if someone needed to check the Queen's safety they would think they had completed their task turn around and leave.

On second thought it was likely a task for Hermione and the Twins.

"Erm, your Majesty?" Harry called out nervously. "Queen of England?"

Once again Mark groaned. Harry's heart was definitely in the right place, but he had no idea what he was doing. To say he was winging it would be an understatement.

As with the Prime Minister, the Queen of England spent her evenings reviewing the papers. She was horrified to hear a strange voice in her private lounge.

"Erm, your Majesty?" Came a young voice. "Queen of England?"

Following decades of ingrained training she pushed the emergency panic button.

But nothing happened. The sounds of armed men storming the private rooms should have been clearly heard. But there was nothing.

"Harry, protocol says she has pressed her panic button."

That was the voice of Mr. Bloomfield, her Prime Minister. Surely he hadn't stooped to treason? He seemed like quite the decent sort!

"Dammit! Your Majesty, I hope you are decent, we are coming in!" The voice declared.

She cast around for a weapon, seeing her hunting rifle on the wall she snatched it down and loaded it with ammo from her desk.

The door began to open and she hoisted her weapon and took aim.

She didn't pay attention to anything other than the form coming through the door. She had her shot and she took it.

The round piercing the chest.

She was shocked when she saw the intruder was little more than a young boy.

"Harry!" Mark called out in horror. "Your Majesty, please! Put the weapon down, he comes in peace!" He immediately knelt down and began ripping open Harry's shirt. Blood was beginning to pump out of his chest.

"Harry, come on Harry, stay with me!" Mark pleaded as he tried to stem the flow of blood.

"That… hurt!" Harry gasped. "Give… second."

The Queen looked on in shock as she tried to comprehend what had happened. A young boy and her Prime Minister had managed to break into her apartments and she had shot the boy. Now her Prime Minister was trying to save him and saying they meant no harm.

She could feel herself going numb, her left arm began to ache.

"Can… move… y'hand." Harry told Mark.

"Harry, I move my hand and you bleed to death." Mark snapped.

"Trust… me."

Mark sighed, the blood was flowing through his fingers, in a few seconds Harry would be dead, he was only delaying the inevitable by seconds. He slowly moved his hand.

Harry took in a ragged breath and closed his eyes in concentration. Mark watched in morbid fascination as the bleeding stopped. Slowly the blood reversed back into the wound and the wound began to knit until Harry was lying there unblemished with his eyes closed in concentration.

Harry finally breathed out and relaxed and Mark worried for a second that he had died.

But he slowly sat up and shook his head.

"Being shot hurts." Harry moaned. Then he looked at Mark. "But no where near as bad as having someone cut your hand off."

There was a thump and both men turned to see the Queen had collapsed. They both rushed over.

"Oops, I may have given her a heart attack." Harry muttered.

"Oops?" Mark asked incredulously. "Dammit I'll call the doctor." He said as he made to rise.

"I'm already here." Harry chuckled as he placed a hand on the Queen's chest. As Harry's hand glowed he continued to talk. "You know, she is very interesting. I hope she doesn't mind me messing about a little, but I think she needs this."

"She needs a heart attack?"

"What? No! She's… well, I'll tell you in a bit when I can tell her. Technically it is under Healer/Patient confidentiality." Harry explained. "There we are, good as new."

"Harry… she's… newer." Mark muttered in awe.

For a woman of almost 70 she didn't look a day over 40.

"She had a charm or two on her, but I had to remove them. Let me wake her up and I'll explain." Harry said.

In a rather surreal move, instead of seeing Harry perform some magic to awaken the Queen, he simply started patting her face.

"Come on, wake up Your Majesty!" He said loudly.

Mark really needed a wall to bang his head on. "Harry, couldn't we just use smelling salts… or magic?"

Harry gave him a grin. "Well sure… but then we couldn't claim to have yelled and struck the Queen of England!"

"Oh god, I'm going to be executed." Mark moaned. "This has to be treasonous."

"Whhaat haaapp'n" The Queen slurred groggily.

"You had a heart attack." Harry announced unconcernedly.

Her eyes opened and she saw the young boy leaning over her. She paled so quickly the Mark thought she might have another attack.

"I killed you!" She gasped.

"You shot me. Big difference." Harry countered.

"How long was I unconscious?"

"About a minute… or two."

"But I shot you!"

"Your Majesty, this is Harry Potter. He's a wizard, possibly the most powerful wizard alive. He healed himself and you." Mark explained before they devolved into an argument fit for five year olds.

"I assume that is the reason you didn't bother trying to stop him?" The Queen asked with a frown and raised eyebrow.

"Technically I forced him to come." Harry admitted. "But it was for a good cause!"

Mark and Harry helped the Queen into the nearest armchair. Which Harry added recliner features to.

"Well then, what pray tell, was so important that you invade my private chambers?"

"War in Britain." Harry answered bluntly.

The Queen looked at Mark shrewdly. "Mr. Bloomsfield, are you aware of what happened to last Prime Minister who attempted to interfere with the affairs of wizards?"

"I'm afraid I didn't know anyone had." Mark sighed.

"The wizards removed his memories and framed him for corruption. His entire family suffered."

"Won't happen this time." Harry shrugged.

"You can be sure of that, young man?" She asked with an arched eyebrow.

He turned to Mark. "You have any problems telling your family about magic and magical creatures?"

"I can't see why not. They are all very level headed and know that my work involves things they can't talk about." Mark conceded.

"Then I can arrange various types of magical bodyguards." Harry snorted. "Hell, I could ask a dragon to sit in your garden for protection!"

"Dragons?"

"Your Majesty, Harry, Lord Gryffindor, is not only able to converse with dragons, but he can change into one as well."

She looked at them in disbelief. "Very well, prove it."

"Now?" Harry asked. "Here?"

"I assume you can back up your claim?"

"Your Majesty, I'm not-"

The Queen held her hand up sharply, halting Mark's plea.

"Well?" She asked Harry.

When Mark saw Harry look at him with a smirk, he groaned. The next thing he knew he was back in the cave with the dragons.

The Queen screamed.

"SHUT UP!" Harry roared at her. He always thought the Queen was a kind old woman. But so far she was anything but.

The Queen, unused to being yelled at, stopped screaming, purely by surprise.

"These are my friends, Elizabeth." Harry snapped. Mark was as shocked as the Queen. Nobody used her first name. Only her husband used it. "You doubted my abilities, then pay close attention."

Harry was instantly replaced by the giant of a dragon that easily dwarfed the other dragons present.

"There is a war coming." The huge black dragon growled. "The victims will be the non-magicals of Great Britain. If you refuse to aid me and protect your own people then I will take control of both Magical and non-magical Britain to save them and stop the Death Eaters."

Suddenly they were back in the Palace and Harry was back in his human form.

Harry was stalking towards the Queen. "People are going to be killed. They are going to be tortured. They are going to be raped! Most of the victims will be non-magicals or first generation magicals. Those that are supposed to be your responsibility.

"Are you going to stand up and do your duty or am I going to have to do it for you?" Harry demanded.

Elizabeth sighed and slumped back into the armchair. "What exactly do you expect us to do? Any interference by the muggle world on the magical world results in them wiping our minds!"

"Don't worry about that, I can give you magical protections. Now, will you help? Are you going to live up to your responsibilities as leaders and protectors?" Harry demanded.

"If you can honestly provide protections then I have no problem helping Harry." Mark agreed, having finally seen in person, Harry in his dragon form, he didn't have room for doubts regarding Harry's abilities.

Harry looked expectantly at the Queen. "Elizabeth?"

She scowled at him. "You would do well to remember your place and show the appropriate respect young man."

"You first!" Harry snapped. "Perhaps you should tell her who I really am?" He instructed Mark.

"Your Majesty, this Harry Potter. He is Lord of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Hogwarts. He is Prince of the Goblins and Prince of the Werewolves, he-"

"How do you know about that?" Harry asked, shocked that anyone knew he was Prince of the Werewolves.

Mark just smiled. "Later Harry. He is a recognised Healer and current Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts. He is also known as The Boy Who Lived. He is a Parselmouth and a Dragon Shifter.

"Most importantly, he is recognised as the single most powerful being on the planet."

"I am?"

"It's based on speculation. No one else can transport an entire train in one shot.

"Quite frankly, Your Majesty, he out ranks you in any way that truly matters."

"Then why come to me at all?" She demanded.

"Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Hogwarts were all members of the Round Table. Appointed by Arthur himself. Merlin was their adopted father, Hogwarts his wife and their adopted mother.

"The Wizengamot, which is pretty much the magical parliament is supposed to rule by Royal Decree. Which means you need to do something about the fact that they are corrupt and looking to enslave your citizens."

"So you are simply looking for permission to replace the magical government?"

"No! I want you to authorise the non-magical government to take over the magical government." Harry said in exasperation. "Australia does it, Canada, Japan, China… although they are attempting to break away. Most of the European countries.

"Only the British Empire seems to have this huge separation."

"Empire? The Empire is soon to be disbanded!" The Queen scoffed.

"The non-magical side yes. But the British Ministry of Magic ensured that it kept power and control of the Magical Empire." Harry countered.

"Surely the leaders of the non-magical side would have told us?" Mark argued.

"They don't even know about the magical world by order of the British Ministry." Harry sighed.

"The King or Queen of non-magical England, is the King or Queen of magical England. Technically, that makes the Ministry of Magic, merely a department of the British Government."

They sat there for a few minutes, thinking about that.

"What is it you want us to do. Exactly. You must have some sort of a plan?" Mark pressed.

"I want to covertly infiltrate and remove the current Ministry and replace it with our own. At the same time I want to incorporate the non-magical world into the magical one. But I am not looking to incorporate the magical world into the non-magical one quite as much."

"Explain." The Queen said shortly.

"I want non-magical technology and security in the magical world, but I don't want spells and potions in the non-magical world – at least, not overtly." Harry explained.

"And you truly believe we can do this and not have our minds wiped?"

"Easy. I don't want you to do something stupid like 'open negotiations'. I want you to take men armed with guns, infiltrate the Ministry and force the current government to capitulate, die or worse."

"Worse?" Marks asked worriedly.

"They put Dementors back at the new prison." He spat.

"Dementors!" The Queen gasped. "They are supposed to be destroyed on sight!"

Harry noticed Mark's surprised expression.

"I'm guessing you didn't know the Queen knew so much about the magical world?" He smirked. "Like I said, she was a Squib."

"How do you know?" The Queen demanded angrily.

"Because I'm Harry Potter, I can see magic. Besides, I said 'was'… now you are a full blown witch, you'll need a wand." Harry sighed.

"Is there some magic you can do to restore her former appearance?" Mark asked. "There will be some awkward questions otherwise."

"Yeah… do you have a picture, a recent one?" Harry asked. "Wait, never mind."

Harry waved his hand and the Queen started to age before their eyes until she looked her previous age.

"How strange, my body feels like it did, but I feel stronger." She mused.

"It's a spell some friends came up with. They wanted to bypass an age line but the potions weren't enough. To reverse it just put your hand over your heart and say 'finite'. That will cancel the spell."

"I do not require a wand?"

"Nah, I changed my mind. I'll teach wandless magic. Hopefully it will give you a lot more respect in the magical world." Harry said with a dismissive wave.

"Perhaps you would be kind enough to make an appointment in the future as opposed to your actions of today?" She scowled.

"Sure, now th-"

They were interrupted by a frantic Hermione teleporting in.

"Harry, emergency! Voldemort and the Dea… Harry, why are the Queen and Prime Minister here?" She asked nervously.

"It is her private quarters." Harry smirked. He loved making Hermione flustered. "By the way, this meeting is top secret, you can not tell anyone about it."

"But-"

"No Hermione. I will need your oath." Harry said firmly as he stood.

"Harry! You don't trust me?" She asked her body language showing she was extremely hurt.

"This isn't about me, or you. This is about necessity. The necessity of keeping what I am doing quiet." Harry countered calmly. "Besides, I am not wiping the knowledge from your memory. Simply ensuring that it is not disseminated without permission."

"And if I refuse?" She asked defiantly.

"Then I am sure that her Majesty will have to order Lord Gryffindor to take the information from your mind." The Prime Minister said sadly. "Any attempt to resist or countermand the orders would see you classified as an enemy of the Crown."

The Queen was nobodies fool and knew that the young man, Harry, wouldn't do a damned thing if he didn't want to. She also realised that the girl was a friend to Harry and that Mr. Bloomsfield was attempting to provide him a way out.

"Young lady, you have two choices. Take the oath, or give up the memories." The Queen stated.

"Fine! I Hermione Jane Granger, swear on my life and magic that I shall not reveal the activities of Harry James Potter with The Queen of England or the Prime Minister of England unless given permission by one of the three." She declared as she held her wand. "I am not happy about this Harry." She said angrily.

"You think I am?" Harry asked calmly. "Now, what is the emergency?"

"Emer-? The new prison, the Dementors have sided with Voldemort and the Death Eaters they are currently trying to break out the prisoners." She said frantically as she remembered the reason she came.

"Right, Mark, make arrangements, I'll be coming back here tomorrow. Same time, make sure you are here." With that, Harry vanished.

Hermione was about to follow when she remembered the identity of the other occupants of the room and gave a nervous curtsy and vanished.

"I am not pleased about being ordered about by a teenager." The Queen scowled.

Mark chuckled. "Your Majesty, I believe you need to put aside any preconceived notions you have regarding Harry Potter. I suggest we alert security to my presence and I will give you a run down of why Harry is anything but a teenager."

"I do have other obligations than to listen to the childhood story of some boy." She snapped.

"Are they more important than war in your own country? I can guarantee that Harry will do what he has to, with or without our support. And there is nothing we can do to stop him."

What followed that night and the following day was the Prime Minister and the heads of MI5 briefing the Queen on the Magical world and the life and times of Harry James Potter.

*Chapter 38*: Chapter 38  
Whilst Harry and most of his family were battling Voldemort and his forces, Ginny and Luna were rushing around and preparing the special edition of the Quibbler. The primary article would also be featured in various foreign papers, the Quibbler itself was being requested in foreign countries. Luna was already quite rich due to Xander's investments of what her father had left her, but she was quickly approaching Hogwarts levels of riches, which was still some way behind Harry's though.

Ginny was working on the type-facing for the headline. "Luna… what did they call the new prison?"

"Azkaban." She stated without stopping her work on the layout.

"I thought Sal owned that and he evicted them."

"He does and did… but wizards are not know for their originality."

Ginny was worried, Luna was usually very calm and relaxed, even in a crisis. But today she was very focused and terse. Ginny realised that Luna knew something.

She grabbed her best friend by the shoulders. "What do you know?"

Luna's eyes stayed down, refusing to look at her. "Not much."

"Whatever you know is enough to affect my usually happy friend. Now share." Ginny demanded.

"This will hurt Neville, but aid Harry." She said simply.

Ginny frowned. The way she said it made it sound like Harry was going to benefit from Neville's pain. "Is that all you know? You don't have any inclination of why? Or if the two are connected?"

"No, that is simply what I know. I don't even know if the two are connected." She sighed in frustration.

"But you usually know a lot more. Like with Xander, Nym and Fleur. Not to mention Harry and Hermione… even if you won't share."

"Harry and Neville are… hidden from me… sort of." She admitted. "Neville is obvious. His nature as a Phoenix keeps him out of the hands of fate and clouds his future. He will live forever, and eternity tends to blur the horizon.

"But Harry… is a puzzle. His future is much like Neville's. But I don't know why. It appears as though he will live forever… but I can't be sure, but either way, it clouds his future."

"But you said you saw him and Hermione." Ginny countered.

"No, I saw Hermione and Harry. I read Hermione." Luna suddenly looked very worried. "You can't tell anyone! Promise me!" She said gripping Ginny's arms in a panic.

"Of course not Luna." Ginny assured her. "You haven't told me anything bad, and you haven't told me anything I can change. So I have no real reason to break your trust."

"Come, they should be arriving back now." Luna declared as she teleported them both to the hospital wing.

"Luna, Ginny! I assume they are inbound?" Poppy asked. Luna was always good for an early warning system.

"Yes Poppy. Neville will need a calming draught, Harry will… heal himself." She said cryptically. Although in truth, that was literally the extent of what she knew.

As if to prove her right, Xander and Sirius appeared with Harry between them. Sal and Hermione were holding up a clearly stunned Neville whilst Nym and Fleur were obviously acting as a guard and had their wands out and their off-hands ready to cast.

She immediately shoved a vial of potion into Sal's hands. "Make him drink that then lie him down, then find a bed for yourself." She ordered before marching over to where Harry was being placed in what was considered 'his bed'.

"Do you need any pain potions, Harry?" She asked, he was covered in blood but she could see the various wounds on his body were healing.

"N…ooo, nearly doonee." He groaned.

"Perhaps you would care to fill us in on what happened?" Minerva scowled as she appeared with Joyce and Godric.

"Tom attacked the new prison, the Dementors joined him and they killed most of the guards and tried to free the prisoners." Xander shrugged. "Unfortunately they succeeded."

"Succeeded!" Minerva nearly screeched. "How on Earth could they overcome you all… let alone Harry?"

"Tom was there. He seems to be incredibly powerful, must be something to do with the blood they took from Harry." Sal explained. "He was swatting Xander around with ease, it didn't help that the rest of us were busy dealing with the Dementors and other prisoners. Harry was in dragon form and an easy target for spell fire. Especially projectiles."

"Is he as powerful as Harry?" Joyce asked worriedly.

"No… just a better caster and… well, he cheats." Harry said as he sat up.

"Cheats?" Godric asked mildly amused.

"He was using the guards as hostages." Harry shrugged. He then began routing around in his pockets. "Speaking of which," he pulled out a bag of marbles, "You might want to get these guys to St. Mungo's."

Poppy stared at the rattling and clinking bag. They all did.

"I hate to be the one to ask this, but are you saying that someone literally lost his marbles?" Ginny asked.

"What? No!" Harry said as he realised what he was implying. "Those are the wounded guards and prisoners. Rather than trying to heal them, I simply transfigured them into marbles. All those animals we transfigured into inanimate objects seemed to be in some sort of stasis, so I figured that would keep them safe until they could be turned back and healed."

"That is quite ingenious, Harry. We can submit it as a project towards your NEWTS." Minerva suggested. "It also provides me with a useful role in a battle as a form of medic."

"Education later! Re-cap now!" Ginny demanded impatiently. "What happened to Neville?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange and her family escaped." Hermione growled. "She heard one of us use his name and began taunting him about his parents. It would seem he has unresolved issues regarding them."

"I advise killing her as the best way to deal with them." Sirius smiled grimly. "Followed by requesting that the King of the Goblins mount her head outside Gringotts."

"That doesn't work for everyone Sirius." Joyce admonished lightly.

"Worked for me. I get a deep sense of satisfaction and closure every time I see Pettigrew's head up there." He said with a theatrical sigh of pleasure.

"What's the Ministries response?" Minerva queried.

"Not a clue." Xander shrugged. "There were no Aurors there. Can't even be sure they know the place was attacked!"

"They should do. I sent off a Patronus message to the DMLE as we arrived." Sirius said.

Harry sighed. "I'll go and poke around, see what I can find out."

"Oh no you don't! You have your first class tomorrow! You will go and sleep now." Hermione ordered.

"I'll go with Sirius. They would be hard pressed to ignore the queries of two Lords." Sal offered.

"Preposterous! The Ministry would be the first to know if Azkaban were attacked." Fudge declared. He was not happy about being summoned in the middle of the night along with the Head of the DMLE about some hoax.

Unfortunately he didn't notice Lockhart's guilty look.

Sal and Sirius did and shared a glance.

"I personally sent a Patronus message stating an attack was in progress." Sirius argued.

"Can you even cast a Patronus after your time around Dementors?" Fudge sneered.

"No thanks to you, but yes." He snapped back. "Now, Lockhart, why didn't you respond to Azkaban's call for help? I know they flooed you as they said they did so immediately before they flooed Hogwarts."

"I can't be expected to be on duty all day and night! I simply wasn't here, to accept any floo calls." He blustered.

"So… you didn't assign anyone to man the floos in your stead?" Sirius asked with a roll of his eyes.

"Of course I did. You will be happy to know that they did not report anything either." Lockhart said with a hint of nervousness.

Sirius just rolled his eyes. "I believe a field trip is in order so you can see for yourself. Any objections? Say 'nay'."

"What?"

"No!"

"I didn't hear a 'nay', let's go!"

Fudge was just about to scream 'nay' when he found himself standing in the middle of the latest Azkaban. He was disturbed and scared. He kept expecting to feel the oppression of the Dementors.

He looked around and saw evidence of spell damage everywhere. The large iron gates had been blown inwards and where hanging there. There where holes in the walls and craters in the ground.

Bodies of Dementors littered the place.

After a few seconds he grew concerned.

"Where is everyone?" He demanded. "Why has no one come to investigate?"

"Because they are all dead or gone, Fudge." Sal sighed.

"Like we told you." Sirius grinned.

"YOU!" Fudge roared, pointing and gesturing at Sirius and Sal. "You did this! You and your… family" He spat.

"Be very careful, Cornelius. Anymore accusations like that and I will call you out in a Wizards Duel." Sal snarled.

"I think they have things well in hand here, Lord Slytherin, perhaps we should leave them to it." Sirius said respectfully.

"Agreed, Lord Black. We expect to be updated, gentlemen."

With that they vanished.

Gilderoy was looking around in disgust. "I must say, this place is rather dreary. Remind me to get them add some colour."

Fudge just glared at him. "Colour? I would think your time would be better spent investigating what happened here and where everyone is?"

"I- oh, of course!" He stuttered. "I'll get right on that, first thing in the morning… or, right now… yes! Right now!" He added as he saw Fudge begin to build steam and start yelling.

Hopefully he could blame the lack of intervention on a floo failure. Hopefully no one would know he had Obliviated the on duty Auror. Gilderoy Lockhart was nobody's fool, he wasn't going to die facing some Dementors… he had no idea if an Obliviate would work on Dementors, they worked on humans though.

He turned to Fudge. "Any chance of a lift back to London?"

"I believe it is you who should be escorting me back." Fudge said with narrowed eyes.

"Perhaps to conserve strength, we should combine our efforts?" He offered.

"Erm… yes, a practical idea." Fudge conceded hesitantly.

They locked arms and waited.

And waited.

They began to shuffle nervously.

"Well?" Fudge demanded impatiently?

"Oh, I was waiting for you!" Gilderoy declared. "Actually, as the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, perhaps I should stick around and investigate for a bit."

"Perhaps you should get back to the Ministry and alert the rest of your department about what has happened?" Fudge said pointedly.

"Any chance I could impose on you to do that?"

Fudge glared at him.

"Right, of course not. My job."

At this point they realised they still had their arms linked like a loving… couple. And not one that is approved of in Magical Britain.

"Get a move on Lockhart. We have things to do!" Fudge ordered.

Again they waited.

And waited.

"I CAN'T APPARATE!" Lockhart suddenly screamed.

Fudge jumped a foot in the air.

After his heart rate slowed, he asked. "What do you mean? Your books claim you can apparate across continents!"

"Ah… well… just a minor embellishment… for the readers you know." He fidgeted.

"Bloody brilliant!" Fudge groaned.

"I say, Minister. Such language is really not necessary." Lockhart admonished. "Surely you can either take us back or return yourself and send someone to fetch me?"

"No I can't." Fudge growled through gritted teeth.

"Oh, are there wards up?"

"I… can't apparate either." Fudge sighed, his cheeks red with shame.

"Oh dear… does that mean we are trapped?"

"It means – we must start walking until we can summon the Knight Bus!" He snapped as he turned on his heal and headed for the gates which were hanging off their hinges.

Monday morning. 9am. First class of the day and week. First class of Harry Potter, Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts.

At his side stood Neville Longbottom. Lord of Longbottom and Assistant Professor to Professor Potter.

Harry, was mentally preparing his lessons and speeches. Fortunately his first class was first year Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.

He stared at them and began to sweat a little. He could feel the dragon stirring occasionally.

"Ok class. I am… Professor Potter, this is my… erm… this is Professor Longbottom.

"My job is to make sure you know about defensive spells and offensive spells. After all, my dad always says: 'A good defence is an effective offence'."

Harry paused and considered that for a second. "Although – my mother says: 'A good offence is a good defence.'"

"Joyce?" Neville enquired.

"Yeah… but they both seem to make sense." Harry returned his focus to the class. "We will also teach you about good tactics and about things like dark objects and animals and how to identify and deal with them.

"Right… who can tell me the best tactic for dealing a Dark Wizard or animal?"

Several hands shot up.

"Erm… Miss Stratford." Harry pointed to a young girl blond Hufflepuff.

"A slicing hex?" She asked tentatively.

"Nope, anyone else? Mr. Farnby."

"A bludgeoning curse?"

"Nope… before I call on anyone else, does anyone have an answer that does not involve firing off a spell?"

Nobody raised a hand.

"That's what I thought, no matter. The answer is: run away." Harry smiled. "The only time Professor Longbottom or myself actively fight dark animals or creatures is when we have back up or a pre-determined plan in place.

"Always imagine that your opponent is capable of wiping you out without raising their wand. The only defence you have; is to run."

Neville watched from the side of the room, where he sat, casually watching Harry interact with his students. Despite his social phobias and weaknesses, Harry was a natural at dealing with people.

He watched as Harry instructed them on the basics of a Protego shield. Neville had little doubt that by the end of the day, they would all have the shield working, even if it was weak.

Hermione was not a happy girl. She had spent last night fighting evil wizards and Dementors. But that was after she had found her boyfriend in a private meeting with the Queen and Prime Minister!

And then her boyfriend had the gall to demand she take an oath to state that she wouldn't speak about it to anyone. Then she hadn't had a chance to grill him because he was busy teaching!

Hermione was not a happy girl.

"If you want to come and find out what last night was about, you can. Just remember, everyone there outranks you. Your opinions are welcomed and respected, but there is nothing that says they are law." Harry said seriously as he walked into her bedroom.

"I am not happy about this Harry." She snapped.

"Considering I am working to save lives, your happiness is not at the top of my list of priorities in this instance, Hermione. I'm offering you the chance to learn more so you can hopefully understand that."

Hermione felt like she had been slapped in the face. Harry was being almost, cold. His tone was uncaring, even if his words seemed noble.

She wondered if Harry had finally been pushed too far. If she had finally pushed him too far with her bossiness and demanding. She had after all interrupted what was a private meeting between two of the most important people in the country and demanded to know what was going on.

It was easy to forget that Harry was a member of the British Magical Government. Not to mention a Lord and Prince. He always came across as 'just Harry'. He never talked about or used his positions much at the school. Or at home.

This was why she imposed her beliefs about nobility on Harry. It had been accidental. She simply did not equate Harry Potter, her boyfriend, with what she thought to be nobility, simply because he didn't act like it in her mind.

But then Harry had never done anything to make her doubt him. Not even when he entered Malfoy into the tournament.

"Hermione?"

She suddenly realised that Harry was waiting for her. She quickly steeled herself and made her decision.

"I trust you Harry." She breathed as she stood and took his hand.

"But you still want to come?" He asked, a wry smile breaking over his stern face.

"I'm curious! So sue me!" She pouted.

Harry just chuckled and took them to a very familiar place.

"Harry! We should have knocked!" Hermione admonished as she found herself in the Queen's private quarters.

"And exactly how would we announce ourselves?" Harry asked with a smirk. "For the time being I want this as covert as possible, I don't want the Ministry messing with their minds and memories!"

"Fine, but where are they?" Hermione asked as she looked around the empty yet expensively furnished room.

"Not here. Looks like they either don't believe me or don't trust me." Harry growled. He led Hermione to a couch and pointed.

Hermione gasped in shock. Crouching there was a man in black tactical gear holding a weapon that looked like a machine gun of sorts.

Hermione gasped and backed up. "How come they can't see us?"

"I made us invisible and silent, I also phased us out. I did have a lot of fun messing with doors yesterday at Number 10, making people jump, but I figured I should be more stealthy, so I spent my time between classes practicing this." Harry said cheerfully.

"So they set a trap for you?"

"Looks like. But it seems that they have some interesting magical help that I never saw coming." He smirked as he led Hermione over to the corner of a room.

Hermione frowned but watched carefully as Harry put his hand through the wall and pulled out a man in the same black tactical gear.

"SIRIUS!" She screeched.

"HERMIONE!" He screeched back. "HARRY!"

"SIRIUS! HERMIONE!" Harry shouted back with a grin.

"What the devil are you two playing at?" Sirius demanded. "You have the entire British non-magical government in a frenzy because a certain wizard claiming to be Harry Potter kidnapped their Prime Minister and held him captive with the Queen!"

"I did not hold them captive… I may have taken the Prime Minister without asking, but I did not force him to stay with me!" Harry protested.

"But why?" Sirius asked plaintively.

"Because they need to step up and take responsibility!" Harry snapped. "Every year the first generation magicals are taken from the non-magical world and turned into second class citizens. When Riddle gets in gear who do you think he's going to target?

"The Ministry of Magic is a division of the British Government, they serve at the pleasure of the Crown. That makes them the responsibility of the Queen. If the non-magical government refuses to step up and sort things out then I will have to do it myself. But it will become me against Riddle and Riddle will attack the magical world just to turn them against me."

"And you think that bringing in the non-magical world won't cause problems?" Sirius asked in disbelief.

"Of course it will. But if we supplement Magical Law Enforcement with non-magical personnel and equipment then any Death Eater that pops his stupid head up will have his brains smeared over the country.

"Your average wizard can't stand against non-magical means. Just ask Dad for a repeat of the demonstration he gave Lucius Malfoy back before second year.

"Plus the non-magicals are far more plentiful and can cover greater areas, unlike the Aurors."

Sirius sighed. "Considering this is you saying this Harry, I assume you have done a fair bit of research?"

"I've been wandering through the records and reports of local police stations, Scotland Yard and MI5."

"And the reason you didn't bring the rest of us in on this?"

"I wanted it to be as purely non-magical as possible. My interactions would be invisible. Dad can't get involved as it might start a war with both the Goblins and Werewolves.

"But that isn't the point. Hermione is a First Generation Magical. She is still a citizen of the non-magical world… to be honest, she isn't registered as a citizen of the magical world, she's just listed as a witch. She will be at the top of Riddle's hit list simply because she is First Generation. If the non-magical government won't step up then maybe they don't deserve their position." Harry spat.

Sirius just sighed sadly. He didn't dispute his Godson, or his motives. Everyone hopes that someone will bring about the change that will bring equality for all and hope to the masses. But rarely does anybody with the actual power to do so, stand up and start things rolling.

Harry had the power, motive and will to do so. He was standing up and he wouldn't just get the ball rolling, he would push the damned ball for as long as it took!

"Sirius… why are you here? Wearing non-magical armour?" Hermione asked, suspicion evident.

"Ah. Right! Well – you see, here's the thing: it's really hard to explain you see-"

"Sirius thought the best way to prank his Pureblood bigoted family was to actually work for the muggle authorities." Harry said in bored manner but with a smirk.

Sirius just frowned at him. "You know, if you were any closer to the truth, I'd accuse you of reading my mind." He then grinned. "But the pranking was just a happy side-effect.

He paused and took a breath before he announced. "There is a reason why nobody knows what happens in the depths of the Department of Mysteries, why the Unspeakables are shrouded in secrecy.

"They are actually magicals, mostly first generation magicals, who were recruited by the non-magical government."

"The Department of Mysteries is an offshoot of MI5?" Harry asked.

Sirius was clearly shocked. "A bit of a leap… but yes. How-"

"When I was routing around MI5 I noticed a lot more reports going in and out of the place, but I couldn't explain where. This does explain it." Harry shrugged.

"So… you're an Unspeakable and an MI5 agent?" Hermione asked somewhat sceptically.

"Yep, but technically, every Unspeakable is an MI5 agent." He grinned proudly.

"This is a very enlightening conversation, but can we deal with our current situation?" Harry asked.

Sirius and Hermione suddenly found themselves in a large concrete bunker surrounded by lots of computer screens and men with guns, seated at a long conference table were the Queen, the Prime Minister and various people in suits and uniforms.

"ON YOUR KNEES AND HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!" One of the armed men in tactial armour roared as they all brought their weapons to bear on the three intruders.

Hermione immediately complied, fear evident. "Dammit Harry, what have you done?" She muttered.

Harry just grinned and followed suit as he knelt down and put his hands behind his head. Sirius was also copying them.

The armed speaker suddenly gestured to the rest of his men, and three stepped forward to try and bind and restrain them.

It wasn't working.

"Major, we can't touch them!" One of the men reported with a hint of anxiousness as the zip ties and his hands passed through the prisoners.

"What are you? Some sort of projection?" The now identified 'Major' demanded.

Harry just laughed. "No! We're really here." Harry smirked and stood up, one of the men tried to hit him on the back of the head with the butt of his gun. Harry growled and the man found himself in a cage holding a snake where his gun was.

"Waaaaah!" The man cried as he threw the snake away.

"Go and sit on the table, the lights will keep you warm." Harry hissed at the snake as he helped Hermione up.

"DON'T MOVE OR WE WILL SHOOT!" The Major roared.

"Don't be an idiot, Major." Sirius snapped. "You fire and the only person you hit is the one behind us."

Sirius turned to the people at the table. "Your Majesty, Prime Minister, I can vouch for these two individuals. They mean no harm."

"They have invaded and threatened us!" The Queen screeched as they were all standing with their backs against the wall as a highly poisonous Cobra was now calmly sleeping on their conference table.

"Harry? Did you threaten the Queen of England?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Absolutely not!" Harry snapped at the Queen. "But if your behaviour or attitude continues then I damn well might!"

Harry waved his hand, the armed men vanished and the weapons vanished. The people returned to the table.

"You are seriously pissing me off. I tried to approach you as a leader of your country and people, but you are forcing me to treat you like an insolent child!"

"I think you're being a little harsh there Harry." Sirius frowned. He wasn't sure what was making his godson act this way, but clearly he was very angry… nearly angry enough to change into his dragon form.

"You really think so?" Harry asked in disgust, it caused Sirius to reel back in shock. "I came to the Prime Minister and Queen in order to secure their aid in removing the corrupt government currently persecuting First Generation magicals. The Prime Minister was reluctant, but willing to listen. Elizabeth has been nothing but belligerent and rude."

"See here now! You will show respect for the Crown!" One officer in an army uniform objected.

"When she earns it." Harry sneered as he took a seat at the conference table, the snake slithered over and wrapped itself around his neck seeking more warmth.

"This is clearly a matter for the magicals, what right do you have to demand we fix your problems?" Another man in a suit demanded.

"Because I am a citizen of your government and I am being persecuted by a member of your government." Hermione said with a frown. She was beginning to understand what was upsetting Harry.

"Magical Britain has always been considered a separate country, it is not our place to interfere." The Queen declared.

"Magical Britain has never been a separate country. It's the Ministry of Magic, like the Ministry of Defence! Essentially a section of the overall British Government." Harry snapped.

"The British Ministry of Magic and the magical people of Britain have been recognised as autonomous for centuries. That is the way it has been, that is the way it shall be!" The Queen stated venomously.

"Please, Your Majesty, ignoring this fact will lead to our citizens dying." The Prime Minister pleaded.

"When that becomes an issue we will intervene to defend our citizens." She said firmly. "And that is all.

"All Magicals will remain under the direct authority of the Ministry of Magic."

Harry's head snapped up. "All magicals?"

"Any individual possessing the ability to utilise magic to a degree." She clarified.

"Sirius, give her your wand." Harry ordered. "Please, Sirius, just go with me on this!" He sent mentally.

Sirius frowned but handed his wand, handle first, across the table. The Queen just stared at the proffered object.

"Go on Elizabeth, give it a wave." Harry smirked, what could only be classed as an evil or smug smirk.

"Only a witch or wizard can use a wand." The man in a suit rolled his eyes.

"Then she shouldn't have a problem." Harry retorted calmly. "Come on dear. We don't have all day." He said patronizingly.

"Harry- " Hermione began to reprimand him but Sirius put a restraining hand on her shoulder.

"I refuse. You have no right to order me about." The Queen declared.

"Fine, then I will remove the charms I put on you yesterday." Harry shrugged as he waved his hand.

There were gasps as the Queen suddenly began to de-age.

"You see, when I came to see the Queen yesterday, she suffered a heart-attack. I healed her but also realised she was a squib. I boosted her magical core so she is now a full witch.

"By her own admission, she is under the authority of the British Magical Government." Harry grinned. "So… all I have to do is takeover the Ministry of Magic and I will have the throne of Britain under my control."

"You can't!" The Queen gasped. "You'll ki-" She began to gasp and clutch at her chest.

"Your Majesty!" The Army man cried as they rushed to her side.

"What are you doing?" The suited man demanded.

"Me? Nothing. I fixed her heart last night. She should be fitter than a horse!" Harry frowned. He waved his hand and the Queen was lying on a bed transfigured from the table.

"See anything, Harry?" Hermione asked nervously.

"Magic, dark magic. It's crushing her magical core." Harry said tersely as he handed the snake off to Sirius.

"She reacted like she was being punished for breaking an oath." Sirius remarked. "But at that severity, it had to be an Unbreakable one."

"Can you do anything, Harry?" Hermione asked nervously. She really didn't want to witness the death of the countries most beloved public figure.

"Everyone stay back and don't interrupt, this is going to be very delicate."

"Why should we trust you?" The suited man demanded.

"Shut up and stay back!" Harry snapped. He waved a hand sending everyone but him against the walls as a diamond dome formed around Harry and the Queen.

Several of the men began banging on the dome.

"It's probably made of diamond and has a silencing field up. So all you are going to do is hurt your fists." Hermione informed them.

"We have no idea what he is doing in there!" He barked. "As for you-"

"Agent Marsden, if you were to harm one hair on Miss Granger's head, Lord Gryffindor would eat you alive." The Prime Minister said sternly. "And by 'eat you alive', I mean he would shift to his dragon form and start to chew on you."

"Prime Minister, surely you can't be condoning this terrorists actions?" The Army man asked in surprise.

"Harry Potter is no terrorist. He is merely a man trying to get our aid in preventing war. He simply does not have the luxury of going through proper diplomatic channels.

"He has made no threats, he made one aggressive action, but it was merely to prove who he was."

"The Prime Minister is right." Hermione added. "I'm still not clear on what Harry was doing, but he has no intention of harming anyone who isn't actively involved in harming other innocents."

"Agent Black, what's your take?" Marsden queried.

Sirius thought about it for a few seconds. "Harry is recognised as a Healer, or doctor in the magical world. Professionally, and by every member of the Magical Global Community.

"Some thing went wrong when he tried to take the Healer's Oath. Nothing happened."

Sirius paused for a second.

"So that must mean he has the wrong intent?" The Army man argued.

"Actually, if that were the case, Harry would have been branded on his forehead by the magic. A sign that he was dangerous to others." Hermione objected.

"Are you aware of what a Phoenix is? A magical bird born of flame and purity?" Sirius asked.

The others all nodded.

"In lieu of his oath, two Phoenixes gave their blessing for him. Harry is one of the few people to have ever had that. The only other person is his adoptive father."

They were interrupted by a bright flash of light.

"What happened? I can't see!" Marsden cried in panic.

"Relax, Harry accidentally blinded us. He'll fix us when he's finished with Her Majesty." Hermione assured them. "Although I recommend you sit on the floor where you are so you don't injure yourself."

"I think the real question should be: can he help Her Majesty?" The Navy man asked.

"Absolutely, Admiral." Sirius said emphatically.

"Really? He's never done this before." Hermione pointed out.

"Meh, it's Harry, besides, I'm hoping he will do the same thing to me."

"Your under an oath?"

"Agent Black has indicated such, but cannot give details. He has been very inventive in giving us clues though." Agent Marsden explained.

"Is there a reason you and other magicals can't do this type of magic?" The Admiral enquired.

"Harry developed a technique to actually 'see' magic. Unfortunately, none of us have been able to replicate what he does. He uses this ability to create new techniques, like re-growing body parts. He can then teach us how to do that, but he can't teach us how to 'see' magic." Hermione explained.

"So, Potter is unique in the wizarding world?" He asked.

"His father often compares wizards to light bulbs and Harry to nuclear power stations." Sirius chuckled.

"Yes, but I tend to agree with Harry that the analogy is lacking." Hermione added.

"Oh?" The Prime Minister prodded.

"Due to Harry's ability to 'see' magic, he noticed that there is something like ambient magic in everything. Even non-magicals. Which obviously makes the term 'non-magical' inaccurate." She scoffed.

Sirius cleared his throat.

"Oh, right, anyway. Magic is everywhere. Magicals have what we call a 'core'. Once we start to use up the magic we store, we begin to replenish it from the magic around us. But it is a slow process that can take days to refill depending on the size of the core.

"Harry thinks, and I tend to agree, that Magical humans are simply an evolutionary step. If the Magical and non-magical world wasn't so divided, then within centuries, there would be no non-magicals.

"He believes that due to the magic being part of nature, some humans began to develop the ability to use this magic and eventually developed their cores."

"An interesting, yet terrifying theory." The army man commented.

"Why do you say that, General?" The Prime Minister enquired.

"They are saying magicals would overwhelm us. Our way of life destroyed."

"Only in Britain. The rest of the world not part of the Magical British Empire integrates quite nicely with the non-magical world." Hermione corrected.

"I did mention that in my reports." Sirius agreed. "My guess is, that it is also part of Harry's reasoning for contacting the non-magical British Government."

"Because of something that might not happen for centuries?" The General asked incredulously.

"Not primarily, that is just a benefit. If something isn't done in the short term, in the long term it will be war." Sirius corrected.

"I thought your reports stated that our weaponry was no match for their magic?" Marsden countered.

"Yes, but we won't be able to operate openly. If the other countries, both magical and non, get wind of what is going on, then they may intervene. There is no telling which way they will go." Sirius explained.

"Lord Gryffindor has arranged to protect my family, as such I can now freely give my full support to his requests." They jumped at the sound of the Queen's voice.

"Your Majesty!" The men said as they blindly jumped to their feet.

"At ease gentlemen. Lord Gryffindor is currently healing your eyes and you should be able to see in a few seconds." She assured them.

True enough they were able to see the de-aged Queen. She indicated that they should sit back down at the re-transfigured table.

"Lord Gryffindor has removed the magic that forced me to be so… contrary, with regards to aiding Magical Britain. He has also arranged protection for my family which was part of the reason for my behaviour. I do apologise."

"Albus Dumbledore should not be trusted. It appears he was the one who forced Her Majesty to take the vow and subtly threatened her family." Harry scowled.

"Your Majesty, are you saying you now support actions to aid the magicals?" The General enquired in disbelief.

"Absolutely!" She declared adamantly. "Innocent civilians will be tortured and killed, and when they are finished with the magicals, they will turn to our own people for… fun." She spat the last word.

"I assume you have a plan?" Marsden sighed.

"A pretty simple one. It involves lots of disillusionment spells and guns." Harry grinned.

"You want us to kill magicals?"

"No, well, unless they are Death Eaters, but no, just injure. Anything non lethal that I can heal."

"And the panic that this will cause?" The General asked pointedly.

"If done right, will never happen. At most there will be paranoia for a bit. But, otherwise, it should appear a seamless transition."

"Should be an interesting briefing. Before we begin, can you do anything for Agent Black? He may have information relevant to your plans, but he seems to be under a magical oath or vow." Marsden requested.

"Erm… sure, Sirius, try and tell us the… stuff you can't… tell us." He said with a shrug.

Sirius sighed and began what he now considered his task in futility. "I am- am… I am… There is… Dammit! My magic just keeps preventing it." He growled.

"Weird." Harry commented. "You have the same magic as the Queen, but a whole lot weaker. I think I can remove it easily, or break it. But… Sirius… are you erm… you know… sleeping with a witch?" Harry blushed.

"What the devil has that got to do with anything?" The General demanded angrily.

"A little patience and we might find out General." The Queen admonished.

"Of course your Majesty. I apologise." The General apologised with a slight flush.

Harry turned back to Sirius expectantly.

"Well… I… no, fine? I'm sleeping all on my lonesome." Sirius sighed in embarrassment. "Your father would never let me live this down." He moaned.

Harry just rolled his eyes. "So no one has told you their Lilly Charm secret?"

"Oh… OH!" Sirius suddenly got very excited. "No, no one has told me." He smiled happily.

"Can you tell me what is under a Fidelius Charm?"

Sirius scowled angrily. "My home."

"You have a home?" Hermione asked curiously.

Sirius looked insulted, but Harry just chuckled. "His home is under a Fidelius, so we assume he has no home because he lives there."

"Can you help me?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, give me a few minutes and I'll have the oath lifted, but I want a crack at the Fidelius as well, but we will need to go to your house to do that."

"You think you can break a Fidelius?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"No idea, never had a reason to try, but I really want to." He grinned. "Ok, give me a sec, this looks much easier than the last one."

"Do we need to shield our eyes?" Hermione asked nervously.

"Err… why not, better safe than sorry." Harry shrugged.

Hermione just rolled her eyes and conjured several pairs of very strong sunglasses.

It was a short few minutes later that Harry was finished. "Go on then. What's the big secret?"

"I am a member of a secret organisation called The Order of the Phoenix created to combat Lord Voldemort. Our current mission involves preventing him from getting into the Hall of Prophesies." Sirius blurted out mechanically.

"HALLELUJAH!" Sirius hollered as he grabbed Harry in a bear hug and swung him around.

"Sirius!" Hermione hissed. "Company!" She whispered as she pointed as surreptitiously as she could at the Queen.

"Ah… right, I apologise Your Majesty." Sirius said formally, causing Harry to look at him incredulously.

He was prevented from commenting by a jab in the ribs from Hermione.

"What prophecy, I assume there is a specific one." The General queried.

"We don't know. Dumbledore refuses to tell us." Sirius sighed.

"Probably the one about me and Riddle." Harry shrugged.

"There's one about you and… him?" Sirius asked in shock.

"Joyce told us when Xander first arrived." Hermione explained. "Although, she never told us the exact wording, just that it said Harry or Riddle would kill each other."

"But the wording is imperative!" Sirius exclaimed. "It could hold clues as to how Harry is to defeat him."

"Mum says the prophecy is irrelevant."

"Harry, I trust Joyce, but even she would know that prophecies are… irrefutable." Sirius said sternly.

Harry grinned in realisation. "No one ever told you why Dad came to this dimension, did they?"

"To save you and be your father." Sirius shrugged as if it was obvious.

"No, that was his choice, his and Joyce and Minerva's to adopt and love me." Harry shook his head. "No, Xander Harris was taken from his dimension and brought to ours in order to deal with the prophecy so I wouldn't have to. He is known to have broken several prophecies in his dimension."

"I find that hard to believe." Sirius muttered, he then snorted. "I suppose I shouldn't considering he's been turning our world upside down since he arrived."

"How does this information affect your plans?" The Prime Minister enquired.

Harry blew out a breath of air that ruffled his fringe. "Well, hard to say. The Prophecy is irrelevant. We could just destroy it or announce it to the world. The real question is: should we do it before or after we take over the Ministry."

"Xander was brought here because of the prophecy. We should consult him." Hermione said firmly. "We don't need to tell him about these meetings or your plans. We just need to tell him what we discovered from Sirius about his oaths and the Order of the Phoenix."

Harry suddenly snorted a laugh. "Sorry, just realised that they probably called it the Order of the Phoenix because of Fawkes, but Fawkes left Dumbledore for Dad. Technically, Dad is the leader of the Order."

Sirius gasped. "Bloody hell pup! You're dead right! The oaths we took were to Fawkes! If Fawkes were to choose someone else they would become the leader. Do you know what this means?"

"That you could have told Dad all this time instead of fuming impotently until I could lift the oath?" Harry asked with a small smile.

"Oi! Less of the 'I' word please." Sirius groused. "But, yes. Fairly accurate. It also means that he can counter any orders by Dumbledore."

"How did you get dragged into the Order?" Hermione asked.

"An excellent question, one we have wanted answered for a long time." Marsden commented as he leaned forward.

"It was before my recruitment by the Unspeakables." Sirius explained. "All the Marauders and Lilly joined. Including Frank and Alice. We did so straight out of Hogwarts, even before your parents married." He told Harry.

"The war was just starting, but it was still violent. Many of our friends, especially Lilly's were being raped, tortured and murdered. The Ministry did nothing, we were invited by Dumbledore to join. We joined willingly… I suppose in that, we are just like the Death Eaters, you can't force someone to join.

"Our basic mission was to respond to any attacks and try and save people. Also intelligence gathering." Sirius scowled. "For all the intelligence we gathered we were still forbidden from actively confronting the enemy… we still waited for them to turn up and start killing.

"Some of the worst nightmares and memories I had in Azkaban were of arriving at an attack and finding Death Eaters in the middle of raping women and children. I still have those nightmares."

There was a long moment of horrified silence.

"I think we should put the plans for the Ministry on hold for a couple of days and contact Xander and explain about the Order and the Prophecy." Hermione whispered. She was wondering if she would need to a Dreamless Sleep potion that night. One way or another she would refuse to sleep without Harry.

Harry seemed to sense this and pulled her into a hug as he subconsciously morphed their chairs together into a comfortable bench.

Harry addressed the Queen and her people. "I would appreciate it if you could assemble a team of people capable of covert infiltration and assassinations. I will only require their skills in assassination, not their actual services. I can guarantee their health by the end of the mission and provide us with a secure hold on the Ministry.

"We'll need a secondary force capable of acting as a form of guard or police. They need to be armed and fully prepared to fire their weapons at civilian adults who make themselves a threat. They will be required to man the Ministry building and Diagon Alley, the two major magical centres."

"What about Hogsmede and Hogwarts?" Sirius enquired.

"Sovereign territory covered by Dad and the Werewolves." Harry shrugged. "I think its safe to say we have no problems with Dad."

"We need much more deliberation and planning on the matter!" The General objected.

Harry looked the Queen straight in the eye. "Before the month ends in two weeks, I will make my move on the Ministry.

"If I do it alone, I become a tyrant, no better than Riddle, Grindlewald, Hitler or Hussein.

"If I have the support of the rest of the country, I am merely another piece on the chessboard serving the light side."

There was a moment of contemplation by the Queen. "Those are… incredibly wise and insightful words, Lord Gryffindor. Especially for one so young."

"With respect, Your Majesty," Sirius said quietly, "Lord Gryffindor not only has the love and teachings of people whose combined age approaches three millennium, but he has been forced into situations that… defy belief, he has killed, brought people back to life, and faced his own death time and again.

"His brother and Uncle, the first Lord Gryffindor, frequently points out that wisdom comes not with age, but with experience, and the ability to understand and use that experience."

"He also tells us often that a smart man learns from his own mistakes, but that a wise man learns from the mistakes of others." Harry added.

"You consider yourself a wise man? Lord Gryffindor?" The Admiral enquired without malice or insinuation.

Harry gave a small smile. "One of my mothers taught us that a wise man will not assume he is wise. But he won't deny it either. Either option would make him a fool."

"Your Majesty," The Prime Minister spoke quietly, "I believe we can provide a suitable force within the required time. If Lord Black and our other Agents within the Department of Mysteries can provide details on the Ministry Building and it's employees, I am certain we can be ready to aid our magical citizens."

The Queen sat and contemplated for a while.

"Lord Gryffindor, proceed with your current plans. But we will require the input of your father Lord Hogwarts in his role as King of the Werewolves and King of the Goblins, it is only right as he is a fellow leader and essentially our neighbour."

Harry went to object but he was stopped when Hermione placed a hand on his forearm.

"There's no need to break all the rules Harry." She said softly.

"Good advice, pup. It's what turns a prank into a crime." Sirius added.

Harry sighed and nodded. "We will liaise with Sirius, if that's ok?"

"Absolutely, Lord Gryffindor." The Queen said with a smile.

*Chapter 39*: Chapter 39  
Xander was on night watch. He couldn't do it often as he essentially had three domains to rule over and his time was very precious. But every now and again he would sit with the werewolves and goblins on duty and watch the big map that showed the status of Hogwarts and its residents.

It was currently 11pm and well after curfew.

"I've got a Gryff leaving his common room." Gerald, the werewolf on duty commented. "Seamus Finnegan."

"Ah, Seamus. Such a wonderful little troublemaker." Xander chuckled.

"My Lord, I have a Hufflepuff leaving his dormitory. He is Ernie MacMillan and he appears to be moving off." The goblin reported.

"No girls leaving?" Xander queried.

"None that we can see." Gerald answered.

"Kitchens?"

"Err… no, they both appear to be heading to the Astronomy tower and there is no one else there."

"That's a new one. I thought Seamus was dating Pavarti Patil. Maybe they are being pranked." Xander mused. "Send a patrol to intercept them when they arrive. Find out why they have both decided to go there."

"My Lord, we have movement in Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Several groups of girls and a few boys have assembled in their common rooms and appear to be preparing to leave."

Xander stood up quickly. "Joyce!" The lady in question quickly appeared. "Are the wards all up?"

"Yes, I don't know what they are up to." She confirmed. "What are you thinking?"

"Our recent security measures are only known to a few. I think the two boys headed for the Astronomy Tower are a misdirect and something is going on with the girls."

"My Lord, one of the Ravenclaws is Princess Luna." The goblin gasped.

"Why would Luna be there?" Joyce queried. "I just left the apartment and I was sure she was there."

"You called Xan?" Nym said as she and Fleur arrived, dressed and ready for action.

"Check out the map." Xander ordered as he turned back to Joyce. "Is Harry still out?"

"Yes, but Hermione is with him also." She frowned. "But I don't believe they would abuse their abilities just to fool around and bypass the wards."

"Nah, I think it is something far more important than that."

"What do you mean? Harry's gone?" Nym asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about it. I'm aware and for the moment it is none of our business." Xander said firmly.

Nym did not like that, but held her tongue, Xander was not the type to hold information without reason. But it had better be a doozy! Fleur simply trusted Xander implicitly.

"My Lord, they are currently exiting the common rooms and appear to be heading for the entrance." The goblin reported.

"Ok people, any ideas on where they are headed?" Xander asked loudly.

"The Magical Forrest." Joyce said firmly. "It is the only place where they can leave the castle and escape the wards."

"Portkeys and Apparition?" Nym asked.

"Exactly."

"What about teleportation?" Xander asked. "Do we have any method of preventing it? Some of those kids are capable."

"Hermione and the twins figured out how to alter the wards slightly to emit an electromagnetic field that can disrupt it. It's the same as the protections on the holding cells." Joyce answered.

"Shouldn't we be heading out there to intercept them?" Nym asked anxiously. She was still an Auror at heart and sitting back whilst the children were seemingly in danger was not in her nature.

"Don't worry Nym. I've already signalled the werewolves to move on them. Sal is also on route with the dragons to cover them from the air." Xander assured her with a squeeze of her arm.

"Joyce, prepare the cells for prisoners. Alert Poppy for wounded, I've called for Harry and- speak of the devil."

"What's going on Dad?" Harry demanded.

"Several students are leaving the castle for an unknown reason." Xander explained quickly.

"Ginny and Luna are there as well." Harry commented with complete calm, something that Xander was quite proud about. "They would never do something like this without warning someone, they would never allow their fellow students to endanger themselves either."

"They are likely there under duress." Hermione added. "Did Luna join them from her room?"

"Yes, she went to bed hours ago." Joyce confirmed.

"She probably had an idea of what was going to happen and joined them to give us reason to stop them… being a member of the goblin royal family." Hermione explained.

"Then we should put her idea into practice." Xander stated. "Come on, they are outside, lets put an end to this."

The plan was simple. Take the girls at wand point into the Forbidden Forest where the Dark Lord's Death Eaters would be waiting. They would take the girls and then they would return to the castle and no one would be the wiser.

So far the plan was running smoothly. They had even managed to somehow capture Luna Lovegood. The Headmaster's adopted daughter. That would wipe that stupid smile off his face.

They had just managed to get the girls outside. The threat of pain and torture was a good motivator. They ignored the tears and sniffling and occasionally a shove was administered. Hopefully the girls would soon have those damned charms removed and they could have some real fun. Provided the Dark Lord allowed them to leave the castle and finally join him.

Theodore Nott had his eyes on some of those girls and he wanted to be the one to break them in.

They were nearing the Forest when they were suddenly blinded by a brilliant light.

The air was filled with cries for help.

"SILENCE!" Roared the familiar voice of Xander Harris. "I don't know what the hell you think you are playing at, but detention is now the least of your worries." He snapped angrily. "Drop your wands."

Theodore had no intention of surrendering. His father was an Auror and had taught him to survive in these circumstances. Not only did he know exactly where the edge of the forest was, but he could also heal his own eyes.

As his vision cleared he glanced around quickly and saw the perfect target. He aimed at the head of long blond hair and fired off an overpowered Diffindo.

He immediately took off, running as fast as he could for the edge of the forest. There was a sudden burning sensation and he found himself flying to the ground, he quickly tried to get to his feet but they didn't seem to respond. He chanced a glance at his legs and froze.

Lying two metres behind him were his legs. Sliced off straight through the thighs. There was no blood, but the pain hit him instantly as realization screamed into his brain and out of his mouth.

Harry Potter stood there with his sword of light, his face black as thunder and magic snapping like lightning in the air. There was no pause as he turned to the sight of his friends and family gathered around the body of his beloved sister.

The small group of family and friends were sat around the large conference table in an unused classroom. Depression and despair were the emotions that made the air so thick.

Tears were in short supply, they had run out the previous night.

Luna Lovegood was dead.

Harry had been able to heal her body, but her soul refused to return. As per Xander's insistence, Fawkes cremated the body on the spot and her ashes were scattered over the Black Lake. Years of experience had taught him the dangers and horrors of leaving a loved ones body available to evil after death.

As soon as word had spread to Ragnok, he had requested the presence of their king and his family.

"My Liege, as you are well aware, confidentiality is a cornerstone of Goblin culture. A week ago, Princess Luna came to me to record her Will. It was the most unusual recording I have ever heard, but she was insistent that as soon as I learnt of her death I was to call in your family and her friends to hear it."

Xander nodded. He understood that Ragnok couldn't break Luna's trust.

Ragnok placed a Pensieve on the conference table and waved his hand over it. A smoky image of Luna rose up.

"Hi everybody!" She declared happily in a terrible American/Spanish accent.

Harry just snorted. "Hi Doctor Nick!" He said quietly. Harry seemed to be the worst hit, he seemed to be in physical pain over the loss of Luna, but he soldiered on, being highly experienced in pain.

Luna sighed. "Well, not exactly very enthusiastic, but thank you Harry."

That statement made everyone sit up and take notice.

"Let's try again, shall we? Hi everybody!"

This time they all said or mumbled: "Hi Doctor Nick."

"Meh, lacking in enthusiasm still, but much better group participation." Luna shrugged.

"Erm… Luna?" Hermione asked curiously.

The images head snapped to Hermione and grinned. "Yes, Hermione?"

"How are you doing this? You're… dead."

"I should hope so! Otherwise Ragnok will be in biiiiiig trouble for showing you this early."

Ragnok just smiled fondly. Princess Luna was always fun to be around.

"I've already Seen what would happen and I am just responding appropriately. Like reading from a script."

"I love you Luna." Joyce declared suddenly.

Luna gave her a brilliant smile. "I love you too Mummy Joyce. And you Mummy Minnie and Daddy. I love you all, especially my big brother.

"Ok, time to get down to business." She suddenly declared. "I don't own much, so I don't have much to give away. But everything I have I want to go to Ginny. Especially the Quibbler. She ran it with me and it was our thing, just let Daddy help you.

"Also, please let my family take anything they want to remember me by. I'd much rather they share memories though."

"I will Luna." Ginny sniffled. Godric who was seated next to her pulled her on to his lap and hugged her tightly, Godric was very much a grandfather to the Weasleys. She held onto him like a little girl, letting him comfort her.

"Ok, now that is why I wanted to have you all here!" Luna declared with a huff as she pointed at Godric and Ginny.

"There will be NO crying and mourning! You can be sad, but you will have a farewell party in my honour. But there will be no weeping and moping!' She declared in a huff.

"Now, Harry, lets get something clear. You could not have saved me. I saw my death ages ago.

"I have some simple messages for you. Hermione, great happiness lies with Harry, provided you are adaptable and accepting of those highly unusual circumstances we discussed, you know what Harry needs, make sure he gets it."

Everyone looked between Harry and Hermione for more clues. Harry looked completely befuddled and Hermione just blushed.

"Sirius, find a nice woman and settle down. Harry doesn't hold anything against you and you don't need to be paying penance! You could always produce an heir and make Harry the godfather.

"Harry, you are probably destined for big things… only I have no idea what as you and Daddy are like giant enigmas when it comes to Seeing anything. But, just remember all the lessons you were taught and all the things you taught me."

"I taught you stuff?" Harry asked curiously.

"Yes dummy! Like defending the innocent! Protecting the weak! And one that is very important in your future, rescuing the damsel!"

"I thought she couldn't see your future?" Hermione pondered.

"Hey! Don't be rude, I am right here you know!"

"Hermione!" Joyce scowled playfully.

"But it's just a recordi-"

"Yes, a recording, which I essentially made whilst sitting there with you from my point of view."

Luna paused for a second. "At least I hope I have this right… otherwise I guess half of this recording won't make any sense.

"Anyway, to answer your question, Hermione. I might not be able to see Harry or Daddy's future, but I can see their future as it connects to others.

"Which makes it a shame I never met Riddle as I could have told you how to kill him.

"Now, Daddy, I love you and my mummies soooo much. Thank you for loving me. I've been really happy since Harry saved me and you adopted me. But now I am with my birth mummy and hopefully birth daddy will join us soon.

"I expect you, Nym and Fleur to provide lots of brothers and sisters to tell about me… Harry, I'm expecting Nieces and Nephews from you.

"Well, that's all of it from me. I know you think I had a short life, but it was a good one, and I've seen most of what will happen in yours, so I am happy and I was fully aware of what was coming.

"I love you all. Bye."

"Wait!"

"Yes Harry?"

"If you knew what was going to happen, why did you join the others? You were already safe."

"The same reason you would have done so in my place. If I wasn't there, someone else would have died instead." She said with a sad smile. "Love you!"

And then the image vanished.

"Dad, we need to talk."

It had been two days since the reading/hearing of Luna's Will. They were still saddened, but often laughed and giggled as they found little notes left all over the place by Luna, always appearing when they needed it the most.

Harry was still in pain and Hermione was worried about him. He was often found sitting at the window just staring at the sky.

"Oh god, you got Hermione pregnant." Xander groaned.

Fortunately, some things never changed.

Harry and Hermione both blushed brightly.

"No! We haven't done… that." Harry said tightly.

"Oh thank god. I'm too young to be a grandfather."

"Could you be serious for a minute!" Hermione snapped.

"So… this about where Harry's been running off to at night?" Xander grinned.

"You knew?" Hermione asked appalled.

"Of course he knew!" Harry said with a roll of his eyes. "The map room is always manned by at least one goblin and one werewolf. You don't think they wouldn't pay extra attention to me and… Luna."

"But why all the secrecy!" Hermione demanded.

"Harry has earned my trust." Xander said seriously. "He might be a teenager, but he has the experiences of a man. Now, what do you need to talk about?"

"Lot's of things…"

Over the next hour, Harry told Xander all about his investigations and subsequent visits with the Queen and Prime Minister and their discoveries about Sirius, MI5 and the Order of the Phoenix.

"So, we were thinking we should deal with Dumbledore and the Order first. You should be involved as you are technically in charge." Harry finished.

"Technically, Neville and Fawkes are in charge. I would just be a mouthpiece for Fawkes." Xander mused with a small smile.

"You really think you can break that Fidelius?" Xander asked, still smiling.

"Won't know till I try, and please don't quote Yoda." Harry added quickly.

"Ok, why don't you head up to Godric's Hollow tonight and examine the Fidelius around your old home. Get a feel for the magic. If you think you are ready, we'll try tomorrow."

"Alright Pup, here I go!" Sirius declared as he marched across the street of Grimauld Place.

Harry had spent the previous evening cleaning his old home as he investigated the Fidelius charm more thoroughly. Hermione had also offered him the opportunity to investigate her own charm. Harry had done so… despite considerable blood flow issues.

Now he watched the magic as Sirius vanished in front of their eyes. Neville, Xander, Fawkes and Hermione watched as Harry began to tear apart the magic they couldn't see.

Harry's ability wasn't that he could disrupt magic or remove it, but that he could alter and absorb it. He could change the nature of the magic, turn it into raw magic that he could absorb into himself, or turn to another nature.

Harry had managed to alter the Fidelius Charm on Godric's Hollow. He had remodelled the secret and made himself he Secret Keeper. This was his plan for Sirius' home. He could always remove it later as Sirius might want to entertain guests, especially considering his social standing.

Finally he turned to Xander, Neville and Hermione and grinned. "The home of Sirius Black is Number 12 Grimauld Place."

He watched as the expressions of realisation and amazement appeared on their faces.

"You know… I can't help but wonder what it looks like when a woman reveals the secret of her Lilly Charm." Xander mused with a grin.

This earned him a chuckle from Neville and a slap from Hermione.

"Come on, lets go introduce ourselves to the Order of the Kentucky Fried Chicken." Xander sighed.

"Hey!"

"OW! Jeeze sorry guys." Xander apologised to Neville and Fawkes as he rubbed his head which had been under attack from a peeved Phoenix.

He sighed in defeat before starting to cross the street.

"Hold up." Harry called out and Xander paused and looked back. "Perhaps we should make… an entrance?" He suggested with a grin. "After all, this is the Order of the Phoenix and two of us are Phoenixes."

Fawkes trilled and Neville directed everyone to place a hand on Xander.

A flash of fire and they were standing in the kitchen of Grimauld Place we a host of shocked faces staring at them.

"What is the meaning of this?" Albus roared.

"Erm… I think that is my question." Xander said with a cheeky smirk. "This is the Order of the Phoenix, right?"

"How do you know about that?" Came a snide voice. It was no wonder that Sirius was angry if he was being forced to allow Severus Snape to enter his home.

"It is called the Order of the Phoenix, I am the companion to the Phoenix you swore your oaths to. That Phoenix has designated me leader of this organisation."

"Dumbledore is our leader." Declared an old man at Dumbledore's right hand. Snape at his left.

"That's fine by me, but not whilst you are members of this group." Xander returned. "I am the official designated leader of the Order of the Phoenix, not Colonel Sanders here."

Hermione blushed as she attempted to cover up her laugh. Harry and Neville just openly laughed.

"Who is Colonel Sanders?" The old man demanded.

"Xander." Came the gravelly grunt from Mad-Eye.

"Hey Moody, bet your glad I'm in charge now." Xander grinned.

"Damn straight." He snarled as Albus and the others gasped in shock. "But there is some bad news you need to know, It's about Arthu-"

"Alastor! You will cease immediately! That is classified information." Albus said angrily.

Albus suddenly found himself bound, gagged and disarmed.

Xander simply ignored him and turned back to Alastor.

"Arthur Weasley was killed two nights ago."

Xander growled as Hermione began to cry.

"What the hell happened? Why wasn't I called?" Harry demanded. "I could have tried to heal him!"

"I was under orders, orders bound by my oaths." Alastor admitted sadly.

"Does Bill know?" Xander asked.

"Yes and no. He was obliviated by Dumbledore. He knew because of that family clock of theirs. Dumbledore destroyed it."

"Harry, Neville. Escort Albus Dumbledore to the Goblin Dungeons and stand guard until relieved by Goblin guard." Xander ordered.

"Hermione, go and alert Ragnok, have him send the guards."

The three young adults vanished silently along with Dumbledore.

"There's something you lot need to realise." Moody growled at the assembled order. "Our oaths to the Order actively prevent us from giving details about what we know. But considering I could do that without Albus' permission, it's just further proof that Lord Hogwarts here, is the rightful leader of the Order. Especially as we actually made our oaths to Fawkes. Something I am now very glad I insisted on back when we started."

"You maybe, I gave my oath to Dumbledore. So my secrets are my own, not even veritiserum or legillamancy well make me tell." Snape smirked.

"Actually, Harry can break every oath including an Unbreakable." Xander smirked back. "Which probably means we should rename it." He mused.

There was a flash of red light and Snape was unconscious on the floor. Everyone turned to see Moody with his wand out and pointed at heap.

"You couldn't have let me do that?" Sirius whined.

"Do what?" Harry asked as the three returned.

"That!" He said pointing at Snape.

"Might want to lock him up as well, Lord Hogwarts." Moody suggested.

Harry didn't bother waiting, he just vanished with Snape.

"See here, Snape is a trusted member of this organisation! Albus vouched for Snape himself!" The old man objected.

"Shut up Diggle." Sirius snapped. "Albus' word means nothing. Not after everything Albus did to Harry and the Weasleys and me."

"Ok, enough." Xander declared quietly. "Let's start with important business.

"This is a voluntary organisation. Anyone who wants to quit will be allowed to after they have been debriefed and then obliviated of all knowledge of the Order's operations and members."

"I am definitely quitting, but I shall not be obliviated and I reveal my knowledge to only Albus." Diggle said stubbornly. Very few people seemed to be backing him up though.

Fawkes gave a trill to Neville who transformed into his Phoenix form and stared at Diggle. After a few moments of nervous staring back, Neville reverted to human.

"Ok, you can have Godric obliviate him. I have his knowledge." Neville shrugged.

"That easily?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"This is the Order of the Phoenix, apparently they didn't specify Fawkes, as such they aren't allowed to keep secrets from me. It's simpler for me to have the knowledge as I can communicate easily with humans, Fawkes can only do so with Xander and myself."

"Neville, would you please escort Diggle to Godric and explain the situation?" Xander requests. "Return as soon as you can, but wait for more reinforcements, Hermione, can you sort that out?"

Both teens acknowledge the request and vanished, Neville taking Diggle with him.

"Is anyone else wanting to quit? For the record, this is a voluntary organisation. Even if you stay, you get to voice your opinions and refuse certain tasks.

"Considering that you are going to be obliviated if you quit, I'll give you a basic run down of what the future holds.

"Harry has been in contact with the non-magical government and the Queen. Both of which are legally in charge of the Ministry of Magic. I don't know the details but Harry can fill you in." He handed over to Harry.

"Within two weeks I have arranged for the non-magical government to remove the corrupt government. We intend to do it covertly. This will minimise the amount of bloodshed.

"The second phase will involve stationing non-magical guards around the magical communities to bolster the current undermanned Auror department and to respond to attacks by Tom."

"Excuse me, but who is Tom?" A young woman with black hair asked. She must have been a new recruit as she looked younger than Sirius.

"You are?" Xander asked curiously.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Hestia Jones, Milord." She blushed.

"No worries, for the record, you should probably introduce yourselves as we don't necessarily know who you are.

"Tom Riddle is the true name of the terrorist calling himself 'Lord Voldemort'. We will be writing up a file on him and you can all see it as we intend to disseminate it to the public in general. Most of it at least."

"He's a half-blood." Harry added. "His dad was a muggle."

"The Dark Lord is a half-blood?" An older gentleman exclaimed.

"Yes, yes he is, Mr…?" Xander queried.

"Oh, Elphias Dodge My Lord Hogwarts." He said respectfully.

"Thank you." Xander responded. "Now, I believe that is the most important information you will need. I don't want to get into anything at the moment that we can handle at another meeting as I need to see Bill Weasley. Is there any other pressing business I should know about?"

"What do you want us to do about the guarding of the Hall of Prophecies?" Moody asked. "It's a pretty pointless setup as only those named on the Prophecy can actually access it. Arthur died for nothing." He spat.

"Do we know who is named on the Prophecy?"

"Albus, Tom and Harry and Sybil Trelawney."

"Then leave it alone. Harry and I will go in and get it now and take it back to Hogwarts, we'll view it and decide what to do next."

Bill was understandably distraught and livid when he heard what Dumbledore had done. Winky didn't fare much better as she had fallen deeply in love with her new family and Master Arthur was just wonderful. Xander ordered them both to Hogwarts to stay for a few days. The rest of the Weasleys were pulled from classes and Joyce provided them with apartments. Xander also personally teleported to Charlie to bring him home.

Ginny was hit the hardest. First her mother, then her best friend and now her father. Her life seemed to be falling apart around her.

Dan and Emma moved into another apartment in the castle to help the Weasleys. They were a lovely family and it hurt to see them suffer.

"Percy, I thought Xander told you to stay away from your office." Joyce admonished lightly as she appeared in the chair across from Percy's desk.

"My Lady." Percy said formerly as he stood and bowed.

"Percy." She said warningly. "You need to stop hiding. Your family needs you."

Percy's shoulders slumped and his head bowed.

"More importantly, I believe you need them. Penelope is here, you know?"

Percy seemed to sink even further.

"Are you really going to let them go through this without you?"

"WHAT ABOUT WHAT I NEED?" Percy roared angrily startling Joyce. "They need me? What about me? Why can't I grieve in my own way? Why can't I have just a bit of time to come to terms with this?" He pleaded, his eyes filling with tears.

"You don't need to do it alone." Joyce implored.

"What if I do?" Percy countered. "What if… what if this is what I need to do? For me? What if being with my family or forcing myself to grieve with others is bad for me?"

"Surely you don't believe that?"

"Surely you don't believe that what you believe applies to everyone?" Percy snorted tearfully. "Can't you just trust me to know what's best for me? I do have nearly two decades worth of experience."

"Can't you trust my thousand years?" Joyce pushed.

Percy just caved and collapsed on himself, crying his eyes out.

Joyce moved quickly to cross around and hug him only to find herself confronted by an irate Fawkes.

Fawkes squawked angrily before alighting on Percy's back and flaming out.

Joyce was about to call for Xander and demand an explanation when Neville flamed in.

He didn't teleport, he flamed.

"Leave it be Joyce." He pleaded. "Percy is a unique individual. Just like everybody else on the planet. You can't apply a generic template to everyone and expect it to work."

"But he's in pain and suffering. He needs people who love him around him." Joyce reasoned.

"Says who? You may have a thousand years of experience, but Fawkes has far longer. Both of us as Phoenixes have a deeper insight into the human psyche. Just leave him be."

"And what about his family? They need him." Joyce could see Neville's point, but she still felt she was right.

"They have each other. They have you and the rest of your family. They have what they need. Why shouldn't Percy have what he needs?"

"Where is Percy?" Joyce asked in defeat.

"Safe. He has access to what he needs and that includes someone to talk to should he need it." Neville didn't give her a chance to respond. He flamed out. He had to inform the rest of the Weasleys that Percy was ok.

"Fawkes?" Percy sniffed as he took in the sight of the room he was in. It was an exact replica of his office. "Where are we?"

Fawkes trilled quietly before flaming out.

"Don't worry Percy, this is your temporary sanctuary."

Percy spun around to find an unfamiliar women smiling softly at him.

"Xander, we need to talk." Moody said gruffly as he marched into the Great Hall the next morning. "Potter! You too!" He barked over his shoulder.

"Subtlety, Alastor! Learn it! Know it! Use it!" Minerva snapped.

"Time an' a place, Minnie. Time an' a place." Moody said dismissively.

"And you don't think a hall full of children eating dinner is either of those?" Godric asked in amusement.

"War is here, these kids know it, so why coddle them?"

"Because they are children, Alastor." Joyce rolled her eyes.

"Look, can we get this done or what?" Moody barked.

They vanished silently as Joyce waved her hand. "Ignore them children, Professor Moody clearly enjoys his entrances."

"I believe the Headmaster would call him a member of 'The Amateur Dramatics Club'." Minerva groused.

"Alright, what's the big deal, Alastor?" Xander asked as he sat down behind Minerva's desk. One day he should probably get his own office.

"Information you need before you start planning your muggle based incursion." Moody groaned as he sat down. The way the pain in his hip joints eased off was practically… orgasmic!

"Shoot."

"A lot of people have recently taken to drinking regularly." He said with a pointed look. "Once an hour?" He added.

"Polyjuice?" Harry asked.

"Aye. The juice. At least, that's what I assume it is. Unless of course Fudge has pushed them into the drink. But it is a bit too regular for my tastes."

"So… Death Eaters in disguise and the Ministry has already been compromised." Xander sighed. "What does this do to your initial plans, Harry?"

Harry thought for a few seconds. "Not much. We just have to be aware that many of the people at the Ministry are likely to be hostile and throw AK's."

"I assume you intend to use veritiserum or oaths on everyone once you've secured the place?" Moody asked.

"Seems like the thing to do."

"Then we need to seal the place tightly. We can put a huge dent in Tom's forces if we capture them."

"We'll also need to find out where they are holding the people they are imitating." Xander added. "Moody, you are coming to our planning sessions, you get to meet the Queen!"

*Chapter 40*: Chapter 40  
Harry's plan had been rather simplistic. An armed team of non-magicals would covertly infiltrate the Ministry and subvert the Minister of Magic. They would take him into custody but use his office to issue commands to other Ministry officials, this would give them complete control over the magical world with the people being none the wiser.

Harry had planned to use intimidation on Fudge, but none of the other parties involved from Xander to the Queen liked the idea of relying on unsavoury methods, they were proven to be unreliable.

Moody's news that the Ministry was compromised by disguised Death Eaters also changed things up.

Harry had offered to morph into Fudge's form and play imposter himself. But between his absence in class and anyone trying and failing to bribe Harry as Fudge, it wouldn't last long.

Especially as Harry had a terribly short temper and he would sooner eat a villain than lead him on.

Fudge marched (Read: waddled) down the corridor to his office. It was rich and opulent. Dragon skin couches and chairs, unicorn tail hair curtains and even phoenix feather quills. It was the seat of power for the Magical British Empire. When visiting dignitaries visited, they knew they were dealing with a man of power.

Of course, there hadn't been a visiting foreign dignitary for many years.

'Bah! Foreigners, the world would be a better place without them or with them under our control.' Fudge thought as he swung his office door open. Cypress wood with pure gold handles. (They had to be repaired a minimum of once a month due to their weak structure.)

Fudge made to move to his desk when he found himself shoved to floor and something that felt like a knee in his back.

"Morning Cornelius."

Oh Merlin, he hated that voice. "Harris." He spat, although it was partially muffled as his head was being forced into lush carpet.

"That's Lord Hogwarts."

Wonderful, the Potter brat was here too. "You've done it now! This will mean war! You can't hide behind your precious sovereignty, the ICW will have no choice but to support us!"

"Why? Because I'm talking to you?" Xander asked as Fudge felt himself hauled up and thrown into a very uncomfortable wooden chair. "I'm only here at the request of the British Magical Government." He smiled as he sat down behind the desk in his chair.

"We made no such request, and we definitely would not allow muggles to dirty our doors." He spat as he noticed the black clad men with muggle toys. "I thought Skeeter was off her rocker!"

"Rita Skeeter?" Harry asked.

"She said you were conspiring with the muggles. Looks like she was right."

"Doesn't matter, you are no longer the government. You have been found lacking in the fulfilment of your duties to the crown and they have seen fit to have you replaced."

"The muggles have no authority over us!"

"It's irrelevant, Cornelius. The deed is done. You have been ousted. All that remains is for Her Majesties investigations to conclude and your trial and judgement. Until that time, you have been handed over to the Goblin Nation for holding." Xander smiled fakely. "First things first, you need to give us your confession."

Fudge then noticed Sirius Black walking over with a vial of clear liquid that he had no doubts about it's contents.

What followed was a question and answer session regarding known Death Eaters in the Ministry and any safe words they might expect. In order to save time he was then sent to the Goblin prison till he could be questioned further about his criminal dealings. It seems that Fudge was supporting the Death Eaters even though he wasn't one.

"Ok, Moody should be in position. Let's initiate the lockdown." Xander ordered. "Harry, let's get started. Call in our first guest please."

The doors were guarded by werewolves, goblins and non-magical soldiers. The entire floo system was shutdown for the Ministry by Alastor. The building was already warded by anti-apparition and portkey wards.

What followed was a complete parade of every Ministry employee from the house elves to the current undersecretary.

Every now and again they came across an imposter.

"Mr. Scargill. It says in your employee file that you have been an employee since September 1990. Right out of Hogwarts." Xander began.

"Yes, that's right." The man responded confidently.

"You started in the Miss-use of Muggle Artefacts department with Perkins and Weasley?"

Scargill frowned. "Not that I recall."

"Oh yeah, it's in the wrong file." Xander shrugged. "Oh, please, no drinking in this office." He smiled genially as the man pulled a small silver flask from his robes. He had seen that same type of flask no less than five times already.

"I… er… it's for a medical condition."

"Really? What's the problem? Maybe I can heal you straight up? No more need for the potion." Harry offered from his position standing guard at the door.

'Scargill' sighed. "I guess the jig is up. You're onto us?"

"We caught five of you so far." Xander shrugged.

"You'll never find us all." The man smirked. "We studied our covers and know exactly who we are impersonating. We don't all drink the potion at the same time either."

"We already know who all of you are. Harry can see the potion magic at work." Xander chuckled as he pointed to his son.

'Scargill' looked at the young lad who smiled and waved back.

"So why the charade?"

"Well, we wanted to lull you into a false sense of security. No need to have you panicking and causing a scene. Plus it gave Harry time to deactivate the various portkeys and emergency items you might have."

Xander chuckled as 'Scargill' frantically began checking his pockets, pulling out various nick-nacks and then discarding them.

"He had some other enchanted stuff too." Harry noted. "I think I managed to drain them."

'Scargill' growled angrily. "You will pay for this. Our great lord will-"

"Huh, this one seems far more confident than the last ten we caught." Xander interrupted. The previous five polyjuice and five non-polyjuiced death eaters working at the Ministry had become petrified when confronted by their cover being blown by Lord's Hogwarts and Gryffindor. The usual response was along the lines of: 'Oh god! Oh god! Don't kill me!'

Occasionally the 'kill me' was replaced with 'eat me', but the message was the same.

"Looks like his polyjuice is wearing off." Harry commented as the man began to morph.

"Wait a minute, I know this one." Xander said as he began rifling through the papers on his desk. His mantra as always was: 'The PC is coming! The PC is coming!' He'd already started on the basic ones available, but he was longing for the end of the 90's.

"Dolohov, Anton Dolohov." He said as he found the relevant page.

"You were one of the ones who broke out of Azkaban!" Harry exclaimed.

"The Dark Lord was powerful enough to control the Dementors and break into the most feared place in the country. You won't stand a chance when he comes for you." Anton smirked maliciously. "The Purebloods will take back this land and our rightful place over those of lesser blood."

"Now, you see Harry? Anton here, can pull off the evil rant. Tom just sounds like a Saturday morning cartoon villain." Xander said mockingly. "The bad news for you, Anton, is that you will probably be dead by tomorrow. So whatever Tom manages to achieve won't benefit you."

"And your 'Powerful Dark Lord' who is going to bring Purebloods back to power… he's going to be in charge of all of you right? Lead you all?" Harry asked.

"As is befitting a Noble Lord of his breeding."

"Yeah… he's less than a muggleborn." Harry shrugged.

"Blasphemer!" Anton spat.

"Nope, he is the son of an inbred squib and a muggle."

"You lie!"

"Why would I need to lie? You're gonna die tonight. You can't do anything with this information."

Anton Dolohov sat there chained to the chair. The conflict was clear on his face. The two men were confident, they had no reason to lie. A sliver of doubt entered his mind.

But pure stubbornness won out.

"I don't believe it. It wouldn't matter anyway, Purebloods will rule again."

Xander and Harry didn't care. They were done with the bastard.

"30 polyjuiced imposters and 23 employed Death Eaters." Xander sighed as he dropped onto the sofa between Nym and Fleur.

He and Harry had just returned from the final executions. Harry and Xander had handled the initial interviews before handing the Death Eaters over to various teams of Goblins, Werewolves and MI5/Unspeakable agents for a full interrogation. All Death Eaters were given a mandatory death sentence. The Ministry of Magic was now Death Eater free.

"What about the polyjuice victims?" Nym asked.

"The Unspeakables are currently running rescue missions with the Goblins and Werewolves as we speak. There was a surprising number of foreigners, seems Tom is calling in recruits from across the Empire."

"Does that mean you two are on call?" Joyce asked.

"Only if they come across Tom."

"So, did you catch any big names?" Neville asked.

"Anton Dolohov, Alecto Carrow, Charles Yaxley and… Rabastian Lestrange." He said looking steadily at Neville.

"Di… Did they have the location of the others?" Neville asked shakily, the thought that one of the people who tortured his parents was dead was… shocking news.

"No. They seem to have made use of the Fidelius."

"But Harry can crack that." Hermione pointed out from her position snuggled against the aforementioned Harry.

"Only if he can track someone entering the protected area. Short of using the Imperious, I don't see that happening.

"Tomorrow we need to deal with Albus, Severus and Nott. We've had them in holding, but we need to deal with them." Xander said tiredly.

Whatever responses were coming were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Xander called out tiredly.

The door opened to reveal someone who had been missing for a few days.

"Perce! How you doing?" Xander asked as he waved him in.

"Better, thank you." Percy said as he shuffled uncomfortably. "I… I've been asked to bring you to meet someone."

"Ha!" Neville barked. "Finally gotten fed up of waiting?"

"So she tells me." Percy smiled softly. "If you wouldn't mind Xander, I think you should meet them."

"Wh-"

"I have been sworn to secrecy… and considering how she helped me these past few days, I am inclined to honour that." Percy interrupted with a smirk.

"Fine, lead on." Xander groaned as he stood up. Fleur and Nym gave him help in the form of a push.

Xander was a little surprised to suddenly found himself standing in a corridor somewhere in the castle.

"Erm…"

"Neville taught me. I'm under the oaths." Percy explained.

"You keep anticipating what I'm gonna ask and I'm gonna start calling you Radar." Xander muttered. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

"You to open the door, I'm no longer needed here, I will go and check in with Penelope and my family." Percy smiled as he vanished.

"Right… open the door. What door?"

A door materialised in front of him in the wall.

"That door." Xander straightened his shoulders, swung open the door and marched into an office.

There was a desk, a large desk. A big comfy chair behind it and two comfy chairs in front of it. There was a nameplate on the desk that read 'Headmaster Hogwarts'. There was a huge window behind the desk that looked out onto the Black Lake.

Of course on the left wall there was a huge window overlooking the gates and Hogsmede and on the right a huge window overlooking the grounds up to the Magical Forrest.

Xander just rolled his eyes and muttered "Magic" under his breath.

"It's about time you got here Xander." A feminine voice smirked.

In the chair behind the desk a familiar tall, raven haired woman appeared.

"Rowena?" Xander asked in surprise.

"Only sort of." She smiled as she came around the desk and hugged her 'oldest brother'.

"Sort of?"

"I'm not really Rowena, not a horcrux, or a ghost or an immortal. I'm similar to a magical portrait, only no paint and no confining frame… just a confining room." She smiled sweetly.

"So… what are… wait! This is your secret room!" Xander said in realisation.

"Exactly! And you should have found it ages ago!" She said slapping his arm.

"Because you did such a good job of labelling this place? Because you told people where to find it?" Xander asked mockingly.

"Because I built it for you and I figured you would ask the house elves!" She cried in exasperation. "You are in charge of security, seems like the smart thing to do would be to interview the caretakers." She mocked back.

Xander blushed. Rowena was right, he had overlooked a valuable source of information. Willow and Giles would never have let him live that down.

"You built this for me?" He asked hoping to change the subject.

Rowena smiled indulgently. "Yes, an office or base of operations. I based it on the Star Trek stories Mother used to tell us. She said you enjoyed them and that everyone wished they had-"

"A HOLODECK!" Xander shouted in shock. "You made a Holodeck?"

"Just for you… well, other people have used it, but only you can control it properly."

"How do you mean?"

"The room will cater to the needs of an individual. But you can order the room to do what you want. You could tell it to become the moon if you wanted." She shrugged.

"Hmm… nice big hot tub sounds about right." Xander sighed, only for the room to flicker and change to an Olympic sized swimming pool with an attached Jacuzzi.

"Sweeeeeet!" Xander crowed as he transfigured his clothes to a towel and his boxers to swimming trunks. He sent out a message to the family and the room was soon filled.

"Rowena?" Joyce whispered.

"Just a portrait, Mother." She smiled as she moved to hug the older woman.

The reunion was interrupted by the indignant complaints of Fleur. "Nym! I am not decent! Change it back!"

Everyone turned and saw Nym in a very revealing… practically non-existent bikini, with her wand pointed at Fleur who was wearing an even skimpier bikini that was also nearly transparent!

Fortunately for Fleur, Harry's sense of decorum kicked in and a solid wall of stone shot up separating the two women from view.

"I was enjoying that!" Xander moaned.

"Unfortunately for Fleur and Nym, so were we." Harry pointed out,

"Why Nym? She seemed happy enough." Hermione queried as she transfigured her own clothes into a modest two piece bathing suit.

"Nym won't be so happy when Fleur is finished with her." He explained.

There was a splash and the two ladies swam up to Xander, Fleur was now in a one piece much to Nym's displeasure.

"Takes all the fun out of it. I have perfectly hot girlfriend/slash sister wife and I can't enjoy her gorgeous br-"

"Nym!" Fleur cried.

Rowena and her brothers just giggled as Minerva and Joyce rolled their eyes.

"Don't worry, this room is Xander's personal… area." Rowena told them. "He can set it up for you whenever you want."

"So these are his quarters?" Hermione asked.

"Quarters, office, training room… Star Trek re-enactment area… whatever he wants."

"Wait… we can actually see Star Trek properly now?" Sal asked earnestly.

"You could just watch it on TV." Xander said.

"But now we can live them!" Sal countered.

There was an unholy gleam that sprang up in Xander's eyes.

"I'm so glad my dad isn't here." Hermione sighed.

The evening was spent getting wrinkled in the hot tub. Rowena was brought up to speed on what was going on so far whilst Nym spent her time thinking of all the fun things she and her lovers could get up to in the room.

Rowena was very pleased to hear that Harry was starting to work with the non-magical government.

"Uncle Arthur would be very upset to hear that the two worlds were separated." She told them. "Often he would wander through Camelot and the surrounding towns fixing things for people and using magic where needed. Dad would do the same, teaching us all to do it as well."

"It was a bit disconcerting to see an old lady struggling with bags and not be able to do something as simple as lighten them for her." Sal said sadly.

"Didn't stop you from dragging me along to carry her bags though, did it?" Harry smirked. "Took me a good ten minutes to convince Grace that we weren't con-men or thieves and that Sal just wanted to help.

"It then took another five minutes to get her to accept our help in the spirit it was meant and not as in insult to her abilities."

"Where was this then?" Joyce asked.

"Newcastle. We were working on renovating Azkaban last Spring." Sal said.

"Have you taken the current monarchy to Camelot?" Rowena asked.

"Camelot?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"Haven't been in contact with them enough to get to that point." Sal said side-stepping Hermione's query.

"Do so soon. It could greatly aid Harry as he tries to join the two worlds." She instructed sternly.

"Where is Camelot?" Hermione asked more firmly.

"That is a family secret, one that even Harry and Xander don't know yet." Godric said sternly. "Camelot was entrusted to us. The line of Arthur was lost many centuries ago. There maybe descendants out there, if they are found they are to be presented to Camelot, if Camelot finds them worthy then they will assume the throne as High King of the British Isles."

"And if they aren't found worthy?" Neville asked.

"The castle will remove the memory of it's location and eject them."

"Is there a way to find a descendant?" Hermione asked.

"Not unless you want to parade the entire population of the planet through Camelot." Sal grinned.

"6 billion people through one doorway… could take a while." Xander mused.

There was a moment of contemplative silence as they each imagined the sight, logistics and general headache that would be caused by trying to move 6 billion individuals through a single building.

Rowena cleared her throat. "Whilst I will leave you to ponder the ridiculousness of that idea on your own, I have something that Xander and Harry need to deal with." She said as a small feminine crown appeared in her hands.

"Aw, your tiara." Joyce cooed.

"Diadem!" Rowena objected.

Harry, however, was moving away from the diadem and dragging Hermione with him.

"What's wrong, Harry?" She asked.

"That thing is surrounded by blackness." Harry spat.

"Black Magic?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"Black spells." Harry clarified.

"There's a difference?" Nym asked.

"Magic just is. It's not white or black, good or evil. It's the spells that we create to utilise magic that are black or white. You can tell whether a spell is designed for good or bad by the colour of the spell, if it is black, it was designed with evil intent, if-"

"Wait a minute, I have never seen a black coloured spell." Nym interrupted.

Neville just chuckled. "Harry sees the magic, not the light that spells cause. The same way he can see the magic on the… diadem. Phoenixes can't see the magic, but we can sense it. Harry's method is definitely more refined."

"I just wish we could all learn to do it." Hermione sighed.

"I still don't understand how just because Harry can suddenly do things, like re-grow limbs, that everyone can do it. Surely someone would have managed to do it before now?" Minerva asked. It was one of the things that bugged her. For decades, people had tried to fly without broomsticks or carpets, walk through solid objects or become completely invisible. The closest they came was a form of self-levitation, walking through permanent illusions like the barrier at King's Cross or disillusionment which still left a visible shimmer.

"Oh, that's all Xander's fault." Rowena said absently as she placed the diadem in a box that had suddenly appeared.

"Me? I just play with what's there, Harry's the one who seems to be messing up known laws!" Xander said defensively.

"Which he can only do because you unlocked his magic. Or more accurately, you liberated his views on magic." She explained.

"How does that enable everyone else to do what Harry and Xander can?" Neville asked.

Rowena thought for a moment. "Think of it like… an illness. Now, Xander had the illness first, a very contagious illness and he coughed – and I apologise for the analogy Harry – on Harry who is the food supply. It's a rough and slightly inaccurate analogy, but that is how it works. Xander is the source, he changed how magic is used, he affected those closest to him. Harry, being the huge magical source that he is, caused it to spread out to other people. The 'virus' then spread on from them.

"If it was just Xander, and Harry wasn't around, it could take years. But according to Percy, the entire world has access to Harry's healing methods."

"Sounds complicated." Sal remarked, Xander and Nym where nodding along in agreement with Sal, they got lost a while back.

"Fine, it's all Xander's fault." Rowena sighed.

"Hey!"

"Ah, much simpler, and makes perfect sense." Nym agreed smugly.

There was a loud splash as Nym suddenly vanished underwater as Xander dived at her and began tickling her mercilessly.

"How isn't she drowning?" Sal asked after a few minutes.

"Localised air bubble around her mouth and nose. Xander seems to have put it up." Harry commented as he stared at the shadows of his dad and his wife frolicking under water. "Nym seems to have turned the tables though."

"I suppose someone has to go and sort them out." Fleur sighed, but her lips where clearly fighting a smile as she dived in.

"Rowena, could you divide the pool into two rooms?" Hermione asked nervously. "Once Fleur get's there, it won't be long before Nym has them all stripped and… well… you know!" She blushed as she explained to the curious adults.

"Ah." Was the collective response.

A wall was soon erected.

"So, what's with the Dark Tiara?" Sal asked with a smile.

"Diadem!

"A certain Dark Dipstick found it and decided it was his to do with as he pleased." Rowena scowled. "He murdered someone and stuck part of his soul in it."

"Tom Riddle!" Hermione gasped.

"It's a horcrux? Like the diary?" Harry asked.

"Diary?" Rowena queried.

"In his second year, a diary was introduced into the school to one of the younger children. It was a horcrux with part of Tom Riddle's soul. It tried to possess the girl and released Slinky with orders to kill non-Purebloods." Sal explained. "It's also when they woke me from stasis."

"So there is more than one of these things?" She mused. "Can you imagine the horrors if we had split Mother's soul for a horcrux."

There was a collective shudder from the three Founders and Joyce.

"What would have happened?" Harry asked.

"The castle would have become a tormented place. Anyone who tried to live here would be tortured and driven insane. They would become tools of the castle." Godric grimaced.

"So… like Azkaban with Dementors?"

"What are Dementors doing in Azkaban?" Rowena asked turning to Sal.

"Long story." He sighed.

"The Ministry used it as a prison and staffed it with Dementors." Harry piped up.

Sal rolled his eyes. "Then again, not so long."

"What exactly am I supposed to do with your… possessed diadem?" Harry asked.

"Well I'd prefer it if you could remove the piece of soul, otherwise, just destroy it." Rowena said sadly.

"Destroy it! But that is supposed to be one of the greatest treasures of Wizarding Britain!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Not any more it's not!" Sal retorted. "Besides, she can always make another one, right?"

"No Salazar, I can't. I needed to infuse my blood with it. I don't currently have any blood." Rowena drawled.

"Pass it here then." Harry said holding out his hand for the box.

"You're going to do it here? In the tub?" Minerva asked.

"Minerva, my dear, I hardly think there is a protocol for such things." Godric chuckled.

"Still, we aren't exactly fully dressed, and there is a piece of a Dark Lord's soul in that box. Doesn't that seem somewhat… improper?"

"Sounds symbolic if you ask me. Cleansing the magical tiara-" "DIADEM!" "-in an object linked with cleansing itself." Sal shrugged.

They were all startled as a loud screeching and wailing suddenly sprang from the box.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Xander demanded as the wall vanished, Fleur was clearly not dressed as she was hiding behind Xander, behind her was an equally unclothed Nym.

Unfortunately, in front of them was a very naked Xander.

"Oh god, I don't know what's worse, the wailing or seeing Dad's… thing." Harry moaned, but the wailing was so loud that only Hermione heard him.

"WOULD YOU CONJURE SOME CLOTHES!" Hermione yelled as she slammed her hand over her eyes.

A quick hand wave and their swimsuits were back on.

"WHAT IS THAT NOISE!" Nym yelled.

"It's from the box, I think it's the diadem." Hermione sent mentally.

Unfortunately the box exploded showering everyone in debris. A black mist that looked disturbingly familiar to Xander rose up and flew through the walls.

"Why does that look like Riddle did when I killed Quirrell?" Xander asked tightly.

"Because it was a piece of his soul. A horcrux." Rowena frowned. "But it shouldn't have been able to detach from the diadem on it's own."

"Harry, what did you – HARRY!" Hermione screamed as she turned and saw her boyfriend poking at a large piece of wood sticking out of his heart.

"I'm fairly certain I should be dead. Right Dad?" He asked nervously. "And in substantial pain?"

"Can you fix it?" Rowena asked calmly as everyone was frozen, no one wanted to touch him for fear of making it worse… despite the fact that Harry seemed fine… stake in the heart notwithstanding.

"I healed a shot gun wound, so this should be easy… I'm more worried about the fact that I'm not dead. My heart is stopped, and severely compromised. I should have died before I knew I was hit." Harry said uneasily.

Hermione suddenly vanished only to return with Poppy, who was not pleased to find herself waist deep in a hot tub with her clothes on.

But her professionalism kicked in as she saw the stake and slow trickle of blood running down Harry's chest. She quickly began casting diagnostic charms.

She froze. "Why aren't you dead?" She asked warily.

"I KNOW!" Harry exclaimed agitatedly as he threw his arms up. "And why the hell doesn't it hurt!"

"Are you feeling anything… bad?" Joyce asked.

"It hurts a bit, but nothing like when I was shot or… tortured." He said with a shudder. "Ok, I'm going to remove it and try and seal the damage." He said as he gripped the offending object. "Ok, this is going to hurt." He said with a wince as a spike of pain lanced from the wound.

"Harry! Wait!" Hermione shouted. "Maybe we should… make sure it's safe."

"Hermione, I have a piece of wood in my heart and I should be dead… I doubt I'm going to get any worse." Harry snickered. He wasn't sure if he actually found it funny or if the stress was getting to him.

"He's right, he registers as alive and dead." Poppy said exasperatedly. "I have no idea how to help him."

There was a horrible tearing noise as Harry cried out in pain. They turned and saw him pull the wood free with a disgusting pop.

"How's… it look?" Harry panted.

Poppy peered into the gaping wound. "Your heart isn't beating yet. It has a nasty large hole in it."

"Yeah, I'm stopping my magic." Harry sighed.

"Why would you do that?" Hermione demanded.

"Just trying to brace for the pain." And then Harry started to groan. Poppy and Hermione watched carefully as they saw the heart start to heal, just as the layers of flesh and skin started to form they saw the heart take it's first beat.

Seconds later, Harry didn't even have a scar.

"Huh, didn't really hurt at all." Harry muttered in surprise. "Oof!" He suddenly found himself with an armful of Hermione. "I'm ok Hermione. I think."

Her head shot back as she looked at him sharply. "You think?"

"I should be dead and I just pulled a chunk of wood out of my own chest… I don't exactly have a baseline for my health at the moment." He shifted Hermione to the side, still holding her as she held him. "Poppy, how do I register?"

Waving her wand she checked the readings. "Still dead and alive. But at least you are intact and registering healthy."

"How can he be dead and alive?" Minerva demanded.

"Mum, relax. It could be any number of reasons." Harry said soothingly. "The fact of the matter is, my heart is beating, I am breathing… and I don't have a chunk of wood sticking out of my chest."

"Always a good thing." Xander muttered.

"Rowena, can you change the room to something more appropriate to this discussion?" Godric requested.

Rowena blushed, especially as she noticed the red hue the water had taken on from Harry's blood.

They found themselves lounging in an exact replica of the Apartment's lounge, complete with windows.

"Right, can someone explain to me how my son managed to wind up staked?" Xander demanded as everyone conjured clothes to replace swimwear.

"Ro' had another of Riddle's horcruxes. She had it in a box but something happened and the soul escaped causing the box to explode." Sal explained.

"That might have been my fault." Harry admitted. "I was examining the magic I removed the binding magic, the same stuff that holds Mum to the castle and Rick to the hat. I returned that magic to it's natural state, but then the soul piece was free."

Joyce rolled her eyes. "And what have you learned?" She asked patronizingly.

"Don't free the soul whilst it's in a wooden box?"

"How about 'warn others before you start experimenting in a room full of people'?"

"Or 'always set up a few shields both magical and non-magical before playing with strange objects'?" Hermione scowled at her boyfriend.

"Research, research, RESEARCH!" Xander shouted as he tapped Harry repeatedly on the head.

"Hey! I did research! I've been researching horcruxes for years, ever since we found out about them. I've been investigating the magic since I learnt to see magic. I wanted a way to allow Joyce to leave the castle."

"I can't, Harry. If I leave the castle, I lose control of the defences." Joyce said softly. She was touched that Harry was spending time thinking of her.

"No. I can see the magic that gives you control of the castle, it's different than the magic that makes you a horcrux. I've compared it to Rick and the Sorting Hat." Harry corrected.

"How do you mean?" Godric asked.

"Hard to explain… the magic just looks different." Harry shrugged.

"Let's keep focus here. Harry seems invulnerable and a piece of Riddle's soul just escaped. Why don't we shelve Harry's revelation, considering he is definitely not going to die from it, and focus on Riddle." Xander ordered. "Why was the soul attached to this," he held up the diadem, "and where did the soul fragment go?"

"Maybe Riddle thought that he would achieve immortality if he hid more pieces of his soul in things." Hermione hypothesised. "And maybe the soul fragment was returning to join with the rest of the soul."

"That is both disgusting and amusing." Godric grimaced. "Hermione is probably right on both counts.

"It would explain why Riddle is so hell bent on cruelty to others. Without his entire soul, he has no moral compass, he was already a deviant little bastard to try and split his soul in the first place, but now he has lost all of his humanity and inhibitions.

"The funny thing is, if that piece of soul makes it back to Riddle, he is going to feel like crap for a bit as he deals with some humanity returning."

There was a few moments of contemplation.

"I've got to go and speak to the Ministry and the Prime Minister." Xander sighed. "Riddle will likely take out his anger on innocents. Harry, alert the werewolves and goblins and suit up. As soon as we get reports, I want us on the move."


	9. Chapter 41 - Chapter 45

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The spirit of Hogwarts believes that Harry has suffered enough in his eleven years of life and calls in a protector to guide and care for him. Not slash, rating for violence in later chapters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a Repost all words belong to mjimeyg

*Chapter 41*: Chapter 41  
The following morning, the family was hard pressed to consider all the raiding parties they had stopped a success.

They discovered that the entire debacle had been a distraction whilst Riddle vented himself on primary school that was having its school play.

Two hundred children and their families were tortured and slaughtered. Nobody knew it was happening until reports of the Dark Mark were received.

Classes were sombre affairs. Even Harry couldn't find enthusiasm for his first years.

For Harry and Xander, things were not due to improve that evening. They had to deal with Dumbledore, Snape and Nott. Seeing as Nott was likely to be the most painful and simplest they got him out of the way first.

They entered the Goblin holding area and administered the veritiserum.

"State your name." Xander ordered dispassionately, he really wanted to simply end the life of his daughter's murderer.

"Theodore Alvers Nott." Came the reply.

"Are you a Death Eater?"

"Yes."

"When did you become a Death Eater?"

"During the summer of this year."

"Who told you you are a Death Eater?"

"The Dark Lord Voldemort."

"Why don't you have a Dark Mark?"

"My Lord is incredibly cunning and knows not to mark his agents who must remain secret." A hint of smugness came through in that response.

This was incredibly bad news. They now had the threat of unmarked Death Eaters out in the world.

It was now time to move on to harder subjects.

"Why did you attempt to kidnap the girls from Hogwarts?" Xander's anger was now coming to the fore.

"For the Dark Lord's servants. They would be used, killed and then displayed as a message to the world that My Lord is not to be defied."

There was a distinct growling coming from the corner where Harry was standing. He was clearly so angry that puffs of fire and smoke came billowing from his nose and mouth.

"Why did you kill my daughter, Luna?"

"So the Dark Lord would remember me despite my failure. I will be greatly honoured." Theo declared. There was a great deal of pride coming from the boy. The serum was wearing off, but they had the answers they needed. The goblins would interrogate him again later for logistical information.

"Come on Harry." Xander ordered tightly as he turned and stormed out of the room.

"I know you don't approve of some of my more vicious methods, but I will be taking action against Nott as the King of the Goblins." Xander informed his son tightly.

"What are you going to do?" Surprisingly, Harry didn't seem to worried, just curious.

"There is a film coming out soon. Braveheart, it'll be famous and big. At the end of the movie the lead character is hung, drawn and quartered. It's done in public. Nott will receive the same punishment on the steps of Gringotts." He snarled.

"What about the Queen and her government? They won't approve." Harry pointed out.

"The goblin nation is sovereign. They can object all they want. And they should. But the Death Eaters and Riddle need to be sent a message. We will use the same charms as the ones on the severed heads to prevent young children from seeing, and I will deliver a warning in the papers and on the wireless as well for people to avoid the area if they don't want to see."

"I won't raise a fuss." Harry promised, though he was obviously very conflicted.

"Remember, this is my decision, and mine alone. You have no right to object and no responsibilities to Nott." Xander told him firmly, trying to remove any guilt.

"We both know I could stop you, Dad." Harry sighed. "The fact that I am essentially allowing this to happen does make me somewhat responsible."

Neither bothered countering the other after that. It was clear where the truth lie.

"Ok, Snape or Dumbledore?" Xander asked.

"Snape. Dumbledore will want to argue and debate. Something tells me Snape will have ammunition we can use against him."

They turned left and headed into a nearby cell where the Potions Master was held.

"Snape, you know why we are here." Xander stated calmly. "I seriously hope you have a better story to tell than young Nott, as he is now going to be tortured in public prior to his execution."

Snape held his tongue. But he had gone quite pale.

"Oath or serum?" Harry asked. "Which method would you like to use to verify the truth of your answers. You can take veritiserum, or swear an oath that nothing you say in this cell will be a lie."

Snape raised an eyebrow. He wasn't expecting a choice. "An oath. I'd appreciate a modicum of control over myself."

"Weeeeelll…" Xander drawled. "I wouldn't assume anything till you've read the oath." He grinned handing over a piece of paper.

Snape rolled his eyes. "You're right, there is very little difference, but at least this way I shall be aware. I'll need a wand."

"You can borrow mine." Harry said handing over his pilfered wand, that he took of Dumbledore.

Snape was under no delusions that he could try anything even though he now possessed a weapon. He new Potter and Harris had no need for wands and neither did the goblins he was sure were near by.

"I, Severus Tobias Snape, swear on my life and magic that everything I say in this cell will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." A flash of magic and he handed back the wand.

"Why does Dumbledore trust you?" Xander began without preamble.

"As far as I know it is because I came to him and told him that the Dark Lord intended to kill the Potters and swore to do anything if he would save Lilly."

"But he failed, so why does he still trust you?"

"I don't know." Severus sighed.

"What crimes, in general, did you commit as a Death Eater?"

"Murder, torture."

"No rape?" Harry scowled, the knowledge of what Nott intended still fresh in his mind.

"No, Potter. Belief in something and commitment to something does not automatically make one a sexual deviant." He snarled.

"Nope, just a regular deviant." Xander returned. "Did you know what you were doing was wrong?"

"Of course!" Snape snapped. "I knew I was committing crimes, but there was very little choice if you wanted to amount to anything as a half-blood."

"My mother did ok." Harry pointed out.

"Lilly was the exception. She was singled out by the professors and was tied to a Pureblood. Without that, she would be just like every other muggleborn." Snape retorted.

"Irrelevant, you had choices, now you live with them. Let's move on." Xander interrupted. "What crimes have you committed since you turned from Riddle?"

"I use legillamancy on anyone especially the students, I also create and sell restricted potions."

"That's it?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"I had no need to torture and kill and I take no pleasure in either." He snarled.

"Why did you favour Slytherins over everyone else and persecute Gryffindors especially?" Harry demanded.

Xander rolled his eyes. He was not really looking to get into seemingly trivial school stuff when they could be pumping him for info on Riddle and Dumbledore.

But Snape was bound by oath to answer.

"I am not a nice person. I dislike what they stand for. Favouring Slytherins and persecuting Gryffindors seemed like the way to do that." He answered with a bored air.

"Why did you pick on me?"

"I hate and despise you and your father. I know you are nothing like him, but you carry his blood and he was a bastard. That is all I needed." He hissed angrily, suddenly Snape seemed to calm down. "Various groups believe that everyone should help everyone else. That we should all work for the altruistic goals of equality. Various other groups believe that they deserve what they can take and what others have should be given to them." Snape began to smirk. "By that logic, the altruistic group should be pleased and honoured to serve the whims of the other group. It is, essentially, the fault of the altruistic group who fail to live up to their own believes and through their own hypocrisy start wars because someone actually tries to make the most of what they are offering."

"Moving on!" Xander interrupted quickly before Harry could blow a gasket and pull a Willow.

"Do you know of any secrets of Dumbledore or Riddle that the Order doesn't already know?" Xander queried.

"I know the contents of the prophecy, I know that if you had gone after Riddle immediately after he was reborn, you could have dealt with him, but now he has gotten a grip on his increased powers. I doubt you stand a chance." He sneered.

"Do you know anything else of use?" Harry asked with a roll of his eyes.

"I know potions. I know the size of his army and where they were coming from. I know that he intends to take the smaller countries of the British Empire and use their armies to take Britain."

"So nothing we don't already know then." Harry sneered back.

"Ok, we're done. Someone will be along to take details of what you know soon, then we will decide on your sentence." Xander declared dragging a glaring Harry away from Snape.

"No trial?" Snape asked, he didn't really expect one.

"Why? You already confessed. Now I just have to make sure the punishment fits the crime." Xander shrugged as he pulled Harry out side.

"Right, now for Dumbledore." Xander sighed as he marched Harry into the next cell.

The old wizard was sitting peacefully with his eyes closed.

"Ah, Mister Harris and Mister Potter." He greeted genially. "Has the Ministry demanded my release yet?"

"Why would they do that?" Xander asked.

"I am a well respected member of society, even without my positions in government." He rebuked mildly.

"Not anymore you're not." Harry muttered.

"The British Ministry of Magic has undergone a regime change. They have no interest in you other than trying you for various miscarriages of justice." Xander stated emotionlessly. "We are not here to debate with you." Xander said fore-stalling Dumbledore's impending outburst. He really didn't care about his opinions.

"Veritiserum or oath. Those are your choices to ensure you are truthful as we question you." Harry informed him.

"Surely you don't need to resort to such methods?"

"Yes!" They both stated.

"Pick one or we'll just go with the serum." Xander frowned.

"Very well, I will take the oath." He sighed.

Xander handed over the paper. "And no, you can't change it. Try to do so and I will just pour the serum down your throat and have Godric read your mind."

Albus frowned at the oath. It left little to no wiggle room and the only difference from veritiserum was that it left the person experience emotions.

"I req- " He stopped as Harry thrust a wand in his face.

"This is not my wand." Albus frowned.

"Any wand will do." Harry smirked. He wasn't going to let Albus near the Elder Wand. It probably wouldn't work for him, but there was no telling what he might try, Ollivander had been very reluctant to let Harry leave his store after he fell to his knees in supplication upon seeing the fabled Elder Wand. Fortunately, Xander turned up and he found the need to have him try new wands.

Albus had planned on snapping the Elder Wand. Paranoia was good for something.

"I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, swear on my life and magic that everything I say in this cell will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." A flash of magic and he handed back the wand.

"In general terms, what types of crimes have you committed?" Xander began.

"Now, surely we ca – urk – *cough* -"

"You're under oath, remember?" Harry smirked.

"But I rrrrkkkkk."

"We made a mistake Harry." Xander sighed. "We forgot that he's a politician. He's incapable of telling the truth voluntarily."

This statement caused Albus to scowl at Xander.

"Stick out your tongue Albus." Xander sighed as he uncorked a vial and stepped forward.

"I was given a choice!"

"And you also took an oath, and you can't even keep that! I suggest, if you want survive this interrogation and not die of lies as your magic kills you, that you say 'ah' and not speak unless you are under the serum!" Xander snapped.

Harry snatched the vial from Xander and fired a spell at Albus, his tilted back and his tongue stuck out.

Seeing the curious look on his father's face, Harry shrugged. "It's a spell for reluctant or unconscious patients."

"Doesn't this go against your oath?"

"The oath never took, remember? Besides, I'm kinda using the advice the Australian Head gave me, just altered, basically, the wizarding world is my patient and he is a symptom or illness."

"Whatever floats your boat." Xander smirked, but Harry just stuck his tongue out.

"We could have just waited for him to kill himself with lies. Anyhow, he's under."

"Right then, Albus, in general terms, what crimes have you committed?" Xander tried again.

"Kidnapping, unauthorised obliviation, attempted murder, theft, engaging and supporting corruption in government and treason." Albus recited emotionlessly.

"Who did you kidnap?" Xander demanded.

"Harry Potter from the Tonks family."

Harry was raging so Xander silently called for Fawkes. The Phoenix appeared in a flash of flame and settled on Harry's shoulder cooing gently.

"I assume you obliviated them?" Xander asked.

"Amongst others."

"Who did you try and kill?"

"Harry Potter."

"Great, two dark lords after me." Harry muttered. Fawkes began trilling gently.

"When and how?"

"A few weeks after he was placed with his family, I entered the house and cast the killing curse on him."

"You tried to kill a baby?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To ensure the prophecy was fulfilled."

"Why do you trust Snape?" Harry asked wanting to avoid more news of attempts on his life, however futile they appear to seem.

"He showed true remorse regarding his actions concerning Lilly Potter."

"What actions?" Harry frowned.

"He revealed the prophecy to Lord Voldemort."

"Did he know it referred to Harry at the time?" Xander asked quickly.

"No, it was made long before Harry or Neville was born."

"What does Neville have to do with it?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Either yourself or Neville could have fulfilled the prophecy."

Xander and Harry just stared at him for a few seconds.

"Ok, I'll bite." Xander shrugged. "Why could Neville fulfil the prophecy?"

"Both were born as the seventh month died and both their parents defied Voldemort three times."

"We'll explain his error later." Xander assured Harry.

"Wait… if I had died from your killing curse, would you have cast it on Neville as well?" Harry demanded.

"Of course. Voldemort could not be allowed to return. I failed." Albus stated sadly. The veritiserum had worn off.

"You are one sick and twisted individual." Xander sneered.

"Everything I did, I did for the Greater Good." Albus argued.

"Who's Greater Good?" Xander snapped back.

"Everyone's!" Albus declared heatedly.

"Impossible! Harry is someone and therefore a member of the collective group known as: 'Everyone'!"

Xander's right eye twitched slightly as he tried to stave off the headache that his own statement was causing, he had nearly confused himself.

Harry, however, was still trying to process the statement.

"How is trying to kill Harry and subjecting him to ten years of torment with the Dursleys, for the Greater Good of 'Everyone' if that doesn't include Harry?" He demanded.

Albus also needed a bit of time to process that statement.

"I concede that the term 'Everyone' was poorly chosen. Perhaps I should have said: The Greater Good of the Wizarding World."

"Of which Harry is also a member." Xander noted. "Maybe you're just too stubborn to admit that your 'Greater Good' only includes a select few, and those select few are chosen by you. Nothing gives you that right. That is exactly the type of thing Riddle is doing."

"I believe the fact that I am still breathing proves that I am not lying, otherwise my previous oath-"

"That only proves that you believe what you are saying. Which in some ways is worse, it means you aren't fit for society." Xander added in disgust.

"I believe a trial before my peers will determine that." Albus declared pompously

"Still can't accept the fact that you are a Goblin prisoner? Or that the Ministry is now under the jurisdiction of the Crown?" Harry asked rhetorically. "I thought of the perfect sentence for Albus, Riddle and Snape." Harry declared with glee.

"Oh?" Xander asked.

"Well, for starters, I think we should let him have his trial. A public trial in full view of the public. Maybe on the steps of the Ministry."

"He doesn't deserve a trial, Harry." Xander said in disgust.

"He doesn't deserve a trial he can manipulate." Harry corrected. "We just have Neville prosecute and do the same thing we did with Hermione's trial. Combined with an oath or veritiserum and his reputation will be shattered."

Albus was growing concerned at that.

"The man is an egotistical narcissist with delusions of grandeur. After the trial we let him read all the various news articles about him. It should serve as quite the punishment." Harry said bouncing on his feet.

"That's it?" Xander asked sceptically.

"Nah, we bind his magic and place him in a cell visible to the public where they can look at him with disappointment and disgust. For the rest of his life, or until he becomes too weak and ill to leave in view of the public."

"And Riddle and Snape?"

"Not entirely sure about Snape, but Riddle, if he doesn't die, can again, have his magic bound and forced to serve and take care of Albus. In a publicly visible cell."

"Can't we just kill them? So much simpler!" Xander whined.

"We could get away with killing Riddle, especially in battle. But people will not be pleased if you just kill Albus."

Albus at this point was becoming very unnerved by the very casual discussion as to whether to kill him or not.

Xander and Harry were fully aware of this and were secretly enjoying it.

"Treason is a capital offense. We can kill him for that, but only once he's been tried and convicted." Harry continued.

"And what if my fellow wizards find me innocent of your accusations?" Albus queried.

"They don't get a say in the matter." Xander said dismissively.

"So you are to play Judge, Jury and Executioner?" He stated disapprovingly.

"Well, Judge and hopefully executioner, but no, your jury, the individuals responsible for deciding your fate, will be a pair of Phoenixes."

Albus felt his confidence rise… until he recalled his recent confessions under veritiserum. He really didn't think he could talk his way out of this one.

Harry and Xander shared a smirk as they realised that Albus had come to the same conclusion. "Oh well, someone will be along to pump you for information, see you at the trial!" Xander said with a cheery wave as he ushered Harry out the door.

"Harry is a horcrux!" Albus blabbed in a panic. Anything to gain an advantage.

"BWHAHAHAHA"

There was a sudden burst of hysterical laughter from outside the cell, it grew louder as Sal stumbled in.

"Oh god! That's brilliant!" Sal gasped.

"It is hardly a laughing matter!" Albus said indignantly. "It is the reason Lord Voldemort can not be killed until Harry dies."

"HAHAHA- Oh god! *gasp* Make him stop!"

"I don't think our brother agrees with you." Xander said in bemusement as he and Harry escorted the doubled over and still hysterical Sal out the door.

"And then – then he says: 'It is the reason Lord Voldemort can not be killed until Harry dies'!" Sal burst into laughter again, only this time he was joined by Joyce, Godric and Rowena as the rest of the family looked on in amusement, obviously not in on the joke.

"When you've regained your equilibrium, perhaps you can explain for the rest of us?" Minerva asked tightly. A threat had been levelled at her son. She was tempted to go down to Gringotts and kick Albus' arse. Especially considering he confessed to his attempted murder.

"We're sorry Minerva, it's just… you can't make an accidental horcrux. You have to perform a binding ritual which is very intense and involved." Joyce explained as she calmed herself.

"But Dumbledore said that you had to commit murder to make a horcrux." Hermione pointed out. She wasn't accusing and the family knew that. She was just querying the error.

"No, not to make a horcrux. But Voldemort didn't just make a horcrux." Godric said seriously. "He has clearly split his soul. That would require a vile act. A most heinous act of murder and torture that I cannot even conceive of." He spat.

"There are other reasons why Harry can't be a horcrux." Sal said, most of his mirth had died down at Godric's explanation, but he still had a small smile. "Basilisk venom and phoenix tears are two of the most powerful elements in existence. Harry has both in his veins. Or had anyway. There is just no way that a horcrux would be in him as the venom can destroy a horcrux and the phoenix tears would consider it something to be healed."

"I'm guessing that we would have noticed if there had been a piece of foreign soul in Harry?" Xander asked.

"Well, you saw what happened when Harry cleaned Ro's tiara."

"Diadem!"

"Harry would also know if he had a piece of someone else's soul in him." Joyce pointed out. "He could see the magic in the ti-diadem." She corrected herself as Rowena growled.

"So… why would Dumbledore think otherwise?" Hermione asked completely confused.

"Because he's an egotistical narcissist with a messiah complex." Joyce snorted.

"Dad said 'delusions of grandeur'." Harry noted with a grin.

"Probably a bit of both." Hermione mused.

"There is a far simpler term: idiot." Sal grumped.

"Are you really going to give him a public trial?" Hermione asked.

"It would be best." Rowena advised. "There would be public outcry if it was discovered that someone as famous and well loved as Dumbledore was imprisoned without one."

"The counter, however, is that revelations of his… crimes, could lead to the same, or worse. He did try to murder the recognised 'Saviour of the Wizarding World'." Godric sagely countered.

"When will all this happen?" Nym asked.

"This weekend." Xander stated firmly. "We will try Dumbledore and sentence him, then we will execute Nott."

"Please don't torture him." Fleur begged. "It isn't right, Luna wouldn't want that."

"He needs to pay." Xander snarled.

"Then feed him to a Dementor." Nym asked, just as distressed. "It's considered just as horrific. But you won't be seen by anyone doing… that."

"I agree. I can't allow you to torture him like that." Neville said calmly as he stared Xander straight in the eyes. "Your heart is still good enough for Fawkes to stay. But your actions… Fawkes won't allow you to corrupt yourself. He couldn't stop Dumbledore, he will be damned before he fails you."

"Erase the House of Nott." Godric said quietly, everyone looked at the large man curiously. "He is a Pureblood. His House, his lineage is everything to him. He could be a near squib but as long as he is a Pureblood he will be happy. Before you kill him, claim everything he owns. Then destroy it in front of him."

"Give his money to the poor. Like we did with the other Death Eaters." Harry added.

"Should we just shoot him?" Xander asked knowing that they were right and that he was seeking vengeance and not justice.

"I –" Harry swallowed uncomfortably. "I will remove and destroy his soul."

"Harry! The Killing Curse?" Hermione asked in horror.

Harry didn't blame her for thinking that, it would be close enough. "No, the Killing Curse only separates body and soul. I… I never told anyone this, but I saw Cedric's soul torn from his body. I can see the souls leave their bodies as they die and… they move into a light."

There were gasps of horror and shock.

"We really need to find out what is happening with you kiddo." Nym said as she and Joyce joined Hermione in hugging the clearly upset wizard.

"I… I went to see Mr. Lovegood. I think Neville and Fawkes should help him die. His soul is trying to leave, I think it's trying to join Mrs. Lovegood."

"We'll go tonight." Neville assured his friend.

"I think I can remove his soul and destroy it, and let everyone see me destroy it." Harry said quietly. "That should scare Riddle."

"You understand what you will be doing, little brother?" Godric asked his face tight.

"I will literally be erasing any form of him from existence. There will be no afterlife for him." Harry said quietly.

"So… just to clarify, Harry will be making sure that whatever existence there is after death… it won't be cursed with the presence of that bastard?" Nym asked cautiously. "Yep… I can live with that." She said happily.

"I can't say I see a problem with it. We aren't condemning him to torture, menial labour or anything that could be considered punitive." Godric nodded slowly.

"I think the only real concern is that Harry will be the one who has to do it." Fleur said.

"If nobody finds fault with it, and Neville and Fawkes agree, then I'll do it." Harry said looking to his best friend.

"Can't say I feel it is wrong, lets ask Fawkes though." Neville conceded as the aforementioned Phoenix appeared. "Well? Completely destroying and annihilating the soul of Theodore Nott, and eventually Voldemort… ?" He put forth to his avian mentor.

Fawkes turned his head to regard Harry quizzically. He then looked Neville straight in the eyes whilst trilling softly.

He then hopped onto Neville's shoulder.

"Strange, he doesn't say why, but there is no reason for us to disapprove, but he says Nott should be held prisoner as Harry is not ready yet. But, like I said, he didn't say why you aren't ready."

"What about Albus and Snape?" Xander asked.

"Their crimes could warrant death or standard imprisonment. It seems a waste to dispose of Snape, why not get an Unbreakable Vow from him and force him to create potions whilst imprisoned."

"I suppose, but he'll still be doing what he enjoys." Harry groused. "Can't we just confine him in a cell with only werewolves and goblins for guards… especially werewolves on a full moon!" He suggested gleefully.

"We will probably do that anyway, but we will allow him to work on potions and be brewing factory." Xander decided. "He did try and do the right thing… he just… sucked, big time!"

"And Albus?" Minerva enquired with distaste.

"Confinement with access to headline news so he can see just how wrong he is."

"Make him produce potions as well. He was a renowned alchemist after all." Godric suggested.

"A wizarding chain-gang." Xander mused to himself.

*Chapter 42*: Chapter 42  
Two men walked up the steps to the Ministry, they had flasks in their robes with enough potion to last the day.

Their mission was simple. Infiltrate the Ministry, access the National Floo Hub and destroy it. It would have been preferable to take it over, but that was no longer possible.

It had been two days since they had any contact with their Ministry operatives and spies, they had checked the safe houses and holding cells and found most of the prisoners gone. It was safe to assume that the operatives had been discovered and the prisoners freed.

The Dark Lord wanted to begin actively moving on the mudbloods and blood traitors. The first step was to ensure they had no means of escape. They knew how to erect wards to prevent apparition and portkeys but there was still the floo.

They weren't expecting to have too much trouble getting the job done. Security was a joke and anyone who opposed or tried to stop them would find themselves on the bad end of an AK, not that there was a good end to that curse.

They were therefore, very surprised when they were stopped by aurors and asked to present their wands and swear an oath regarding their intent.

"A wizard's oath is not something to bandy about lightly boy." The first Death Eater, Jonas, frowned. He was an older wizard of 85 years, the young children in front of him should have bowed to his wisdom quickly.

"We are well aware, sir. We don't write the oath, we merely ensure it is taken by all visitors to the Ministry." The young Auror explained with a slight conciliatory tone. It wasn't the first time someone had objected, usually an explanation of why they were asking and sometimes the occasional demonstration of another Auror taking the oath was enough.

"Regardless, even requesting an oath is a slight on a man's honour! I could challenge you to a duel for suggesting it!"

"I have been granted immunity from duels. Any duel issued against a Ministry Auror for requesting someone take the Oath will be answered by Lord Hogwarts or Lord Gryffindor." The Auror paused to allow that to sink in, which it clearly had if the mans pale face was anything to go by.

"Nobody has the right to interfere in a Wizards Duel!"

"The Ministry has decided otherwise."

He pulled his wand and pointed it at the Auror. "And if were to choose to duel you here and now?"

"You would be considered a terrorist and you would likely die on the spot." He stated calmly. Kingsley Shacklebot was chosen by Xander personally for this job because of his calm demeanour in the face of danger. "My understanding is that Lord Gryffindor would personally see to my health whilst Lord Hogwarts decides whether or not you are worth the time. If they do manage to revive you, it is likely you will be missing several appendages."

"Think you and your boys are that good?" The man sneered.

"No, but, it was explained to me that the men that are concealed around us are." Kingsley pointed to a cluster of red dots moving like insects on the man's chest. "I've seen these weapons at work. They will kill you before you can form a thought." Kingsley remarked in an almost bored manner.

"Maybe we should leave an return another time?" The man's companion suggested nervously.

"I'm afraid that is not possible. You have threatened an Auror. That is a criminal offence. You will need to surrender your wands and yourselves to our custody for interrogation."

'Interrogation': not a word a Death Eater accepts. Unless it is from the Dark Lord.

Kingsley was a trained Auror. A Senior Auror. He had sized the man up and established a minimum baseline for the man's abilities.

Bottom line: The man could kill with a non-verbal spell.

Fortunately the man's eyes gave away his intentions and Kingsley dodged to the side as a spell left the man's wand.

The other man barely had a hand to his wand before the sound of several whipping noises filled the air. The younger man felt several stinging sensations but ignored them for a moment as his older partner slumped to the ground with a sizeable whole out the back of his head.

That was when he noticed the wet drips rolling down his face as his partner's blood covered him.

He suddenly realised he couldn't breathe. Looking down he realised blood was pouring from several holes in his torso and chest.

He looked up in confusion from his knees to see the large Auror aim his wand. A burst of light and that was the last he knew.

"Xander, you owe me a drink!" Kingsley demanded as he stomped moodily into the Apartment.

"I do?"

"Having had two Death Eater wands in my face today because of the assignment you gave me? Yes, you do."

"Two? What happened?" Harry asked as an Elf appeared with a bottle and glasses.

"They came in like normal visitors, we challenged them like everyone else. They refused, the older one even threatened to duel me. Basically we arrested them and discovered they were sent to sabotage or take over the Floo System. Part of a larger plan to cut off escape routes whilst Riddle starts attacking magicals."

"Is there any way we can use their plan against them?" Neville asked.

"No, they don't know where the attacks will be, just that they are to prevent escape through the floo."

"We need to do something." Harry frowned thoughtfully.

"Is that a plan I see percolating in that brain of yours?" Nym grinned.

"Two options. One, we use the imperious or mind control on the Death Eaters to get them to lead us to Voldemort. Two, we find another piece of his soul and I might be able to use it to track him or hurt him."

"Like a voodoo doll?" Xander asked.

"Not a clue, I'm just grasping at straws… whatever that saying means." Harry shrugged.

"Option one is easier, but morally repugnant." Minerva commented with distaste. "But option two seems impossible, where would we begin?"

"Albus." Godric stated without hesitation. "He had theories and the like on Harry being one, and that Riddle had made them in the first place. For all his evils, the man was working to take Riddle out. We interrogate him with veritiserum and pump him for all he is worth."

"Right, then I'll start hunting them down." Harry added.

"Like hell!" Xander objected. "You have classes to teach. This is not a one-man show. We have armies of goblins and werewolves just waiting for orders. They can handle this."

"We should push back the trial of Albus and Snape, that way less people will know that we are using truth serum on them." Hermione suggested. "The start of the holidays would be best."

"And ruin Christmas?" Nym argued in horror.

"You want to have it later and start the New Year off with destroying everyone's illusions?" She retorted.

"Or we could have it a week or so before the holidays." Neville suggested diplomatically.

"I would advise following Hermione's timetable." Godric spoke up. "That way everyone can attend and see for themselves."

"Or we could go with Neville's timetable and hold the trial in Hogsmede." Harry suggested. "We could even contract with the French or British governments to televise the trial."

"Ok, we'll run it through the ringer and get it sorted. Meanwhile the goblins will pump Albus full of serum and we'll look for more horcruxes for Harry to play with." Xander summarised.

Over the following weeks the goblins would extract various pieces of information from a very reluctant Albus Dumbledore. Each session usually involved having to force veritiserum down his gullet.

They had several leads. Each time Harry was informed he was subsequently told that he was not allowed to go and help. He needed to learn to delegate and trust others to do their jobs.

His classes were going well. Hermione had opted to drop out and take her OWL's and NEWT's independently so no one could accuse Harry and her of being improper. It was apparently bad form for a student to date a teacher. Xander wished someone had told Miss French that.

Harry put his seeming invulnerability to the test by allowing the fifth, sixth and seventh years to duel him. He was often beaten when only using standard spells and techniques, but the spells rarely stuck. Anything that got cut off was easily replaced, Neville spent most of the lessons vanishing bits of Harry from the classroom and cleaning up his blood. But the students loved it.

Harry also put a new spin on his lessons regarding werewolves, on the day and night of the full moon, he would take his class out to the werewolf village were they would enjoy a day relaxing and then observing the werewolves.

"Harry, is this your way of getting yourself fired?" Hermione asked with a stern look.

"No, why would I do that? This teaching thing is great!" He told her happily. It was obvious Harry enjoyed teaching, he had various stories he told the family every evening.

"If people find out you are exposing the students to werewolves on the full moon, they will demand you are fired." She argued.

"You are forgetting one important fact my beautiful girlfriend." Harry grinned as he grabbed Hermione and dipped her backward.

"Wha- what's that?" She stuttered. The blood flow was not conducive to coherent thought. But she very much loved it when Harry let loose and had fun like this.

"The government likes me very much, they also like my dad very much. They wouldn't do anything to upset us like that! Besides, they approve of all of this." He said as he pulled her upright and spun her in a dance move causing her to squeal.

"They know?" She asked breathlessly.

"Sure, I tell Liz loads of stories, she even wants to come visit one day."

"Harry! You really shouldn't call her that."

"Why? We have a rule, 'only in private'. You don't think Philip calls her 'Your Majesty' all the time?" He scoffed. "Actually, you should come and meet him, he's a hoot! But I'll warn you, he tells some very dodgy jokes."

"Philip? The Prince?"

"That's it, you are definitely coming to the next briefing, then we can all have dinner together."

"I am?"

Harry just grinned at her and twirled her again.

"Haaarrrryyyyy!"

"My Prince."

Harry looked up from his grading to see Longtooth, the goblin in charge of the horcrux search standing at his office door with a box.

"We believe we have found a horcrux." He declared reverently as he placed the large metal box on the floor in front of Harry's desk.

Harry frowned. "That's great, but why are you bringing it to me? I thought I was supposed to stay clear and delegate."

"Your father's orders. There is no one more capable than yourself for dealing with these… abominations." He spat the word in disgust.

"Ok, I'll get Neville to help take up the slack on my marking then." Harry sighed. "So what was the horcrux?" He asked as he came round his desk to stand next to Longtooth.

"A ring, my Prince."

"A ring… as in a hula hoop or quidditch goal?" Harry asked as he eyed the box dubiously. The box was actually bigger than his school trunk.

"Jewellery, My Prince. A ring as worn upon your finger."

"You put a tiny little ring in a huge box?"

"Again, the King's orders." Longtooth suppressed a smirk as he opened the lid.

Harry looked in and saw it was a lot like Moody's trunk with a pit like room several feet below.

"The King explained your last encounter with one of these things and instructed us to make sure that precautions were taken. He also ordered that you not perform any experiments without Lord Longbottom present."

"I swear, you get staked in the heart one time and you get coddled for life." Harry muttered in exasperation.

"Xander was struck most deeply when he found you in the graveyard Harry." Came a new voice. Both turned to see Ragnok standing in the doorway. "Since then he is overwhelmed with fear and grief when he sees you hurt. When you were, 'staked', as you put it, he came to Gringotts and fought three trolls on his own as he wrestled with his emotional turmoil. Nym and Fleur were most distraught." He said sadly.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" Harry asked in distress.

Neither paid any attention to Longtooth who respectfully slipped away.

"It is the nature of a parent to want to protect a child from the evils of the world. Xander knows he can't protect you from everything, but he refuses to burden you with his own fears and worries."

Harry scowled. This was ridiculous, he had already told them all that he didn't really feel pain anymore. He knew it was there, it just didn't bother him anymore.

"Well… why are you telling me then?"

"Because there comes a time when a parent must accept that their children are their equals in every way, even accepting that they have surpassed them. Xander needs to accept that he doesn't need to protect you. As long as you accept that you should not do some things alone."

Harry ruminated on Ragnok's words silently for a few moments. Ragnok was always particular with his words. He didn't say Harry couldn't do some things alone, but that he shouldn't. And he was right. It all came down to ego.

Harry kept his own ego in check with regards to his seeming invulnerability by training in Rowena's room. Except most of his fighting scenarios involved the people he loved and he had to ensure he didn't hurt them. Rowena had torn into him when he kept trying to save everyone, his job was to make sure he didn't injure them, not save everyone.

But thinking back on Ragnok's words, Harry picked up what he was trying to say.

"Dad needs me to assure and comfort him?"

"To an extent. The graveyard devastated him. He shut himself down completely whilst there, acting like a golem, no emotion. If not for both Nym and Fleur, he may not have recovered. After the death of Luna, he didn't suffer as badly, but that was mainly due to the painless death she suffered, but he still suffered, it wasn't until Luna's Will Reading that he started to heal."

Harry was respected by all who knew him as a kind and sensitive young man. This was a result of all the years of abuse and finally the love of his three parents, Neville and Hermione. The years of abuse had taught him one thing about himself: he hated people like that. Ragnok respected the young man, goblins preferred action, strength and confidence in their children, or as Xander put it, 'the Klingon way of life', but they respected Harry and his family because they sought to elevate the goblin nation in the world.

"Thank you for your advice Ragnok." Harry said with a solemn bow.

Ragnok smiled and patted Harry's hand affectionately. "I will leave you to it, My Prince. Just remember, no experimenting without Neville around."

"Hey Xander! We wanted to show you our latest, greatest invention!" Fred announced as he and George burst into the Headmaster's office.

Xander looked up from his desk. He was finishing up reading and signing whatever latest piece of paperwork Percy had stuck under his nose needed. Somewhere along the line, Percy had become his unofficial assistant. Starting in the New Year it would be official.

"Who did you mutilate?" Xander asked as he grimaced at the long strips of flesh coloured material the twins were holding up triumphantly.

"No one!" George said indignantly. "Though I can see why you would think that." He said with his own grimace as he re-examined the object in his hand. "Fred, make a note, need to make these things less gross."

"Agreed." His twin commented with a slightly green expression.

"Take a seat boys and tell me what you did." Xander said as he sat back and put his feet on his desk.

They were interrupted as Percy calmly walked in, grabbed the papers and walked out again without a word.

"One day I'm going to figure out he does that." Xander mused in wonder.

The three broke themselves from staring at the door where Percy had exited.

"Right, we present to you the Extendable Ears!" George declared proudly.

"I assume they work as named?" Xander asked with a smirk.

"Yep, perfect extension to the human ear capable of sliding under any door unless it's been charmed to be imperturbable." George confirmed. "Your two lovely ladies along with Hermione and Bill helped with the testing."

"Now we know that non-magicals have similar devices, but we also know they have ways of stopping them, so now you have a way around… their ways." Fred explained as he half confused himself.

"I think I get what you mean." Xander frowned.

"You did? 'Cause I'm his twin and completely confused!" George remarked.

"Well, it's a good device, I assume you want me to show it around?"

"Or just keep 'em on hand in case you need them."

They were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"One moment guys." Xander commented. "Come in!"

"The Almighty One!" Fred cried as Harry walked in.

"Turn your face away, George, we're not worthy!"

"What brought this recent bought of insanity on?" Harry asked in amusement.

"Well, what with you being as immortal as Neville, plus invulnerable. Can you get any closer to godhood?" Fred answered.

"Why don't I smite one of you and then you can decide?" Harry smirked.

"Promise to bring us back?" Fred asked without missing a beat.

"Depends on whether one of you is more annoying than two."

"Right, no smiting. We'll just leave the two of you alone and… go and pray for mercy somewhere." George said dragging his brother out, Harry and Xander watched in amusement.

"So my son, you have come to seek my wisdom." Xander said sagely.

"No, I am not here to discuss Star Wars versus Star Trek." Harry retorted sarcastically. "I'm here because I just had a somewhat disturbing discussion with Ragnok."

Xander sat forward and frowned. "Problem?"

"Apparently my dad is having trouble dealing with my new abilities, he's worrying about me getting hurt despite the fact that I am seemingly, un-killable." Harry said whilst examining the back of his hand nonchalantly.

Xander growled unhappily. "Stupid interfering little snot nosed-"

"And loyal, caring servant of the goblin royal family." Harry finished.

Xander just growled in the back of his throat as he stared at his desk.

"I had a lot of trouble dealing with the aftermath of my torture and dismemberment." Harry said quietly. "Those first few nights I cracked every time I tried to use my missing hand. Then you gave me hope with the concept of growing an artificial one. I then gave Igor his new arm. But I still suffered with nightmares and excessive depression. Still do." He admitted.

"After I gave Igor his arm, I realised I could replace any part of my body if I lost it. I hated the crippling nightmares of being dismembered piece by piece."

"Godric told us he was never happier that he didn't dream himself. He had trouble coping with your nightmares and trying to protect your mind." Xander told him.

Harry nodded slowly. "I spent my time alone cutting off my diamond hand and then re-growing it."

Xander's head snapped up.

"I was desperate to get over my fears, I figured that was a good way to do it. There was no pain as I used the medical numbing charm. But it helped. Hermione caught me once and nearly flipped out. But when she saw how easily I did it she simply refused to let me do it alone."

"Your gruesome and highly disturbing point would be?" Xander asked as he shifted in his chair, uncomfortably.

"That you need to try and accept my abilities and that I am perfectly safe."

"But we don't know the full extent of your powers or if they are permanent." Xander countered.

"We also don't know if a country is about to set off a nuclear bomb, but we shouldn't keep worrying about it!" Harry retorted. "Look, let's spend some time, just the two of us. We'll fight each other full out, come and see what we've been doing in Australia, it will give you an idea of how much damage I can take."

"What do you mean?"

"Tonight dad. We'll head over to Melbourne and you can see what I am talking about."

"Wakey wakey!"

Xander was feeling groggy. Someone was prodding him, he was sure it was Harry.

"Wha' 'appened?" He mumbled.

"You fainted." Came the amused voice of his son.

"Why'd I do that?" He asked as he shook his head to clear the cobwebs.

"Seems that you don't handle the miracle of birth as well as you handle the grim spectre of death." Harry chuckled.

Xander shivered as the memories of seeing Harry assist a live birth came rushing back.

Since they had arrived in Melbourne several hours earlier, Xander had witnessed Harry perform all manner of procedures. Including the removal of a healthy liver from a healthy man for donation to a muggle hospital and then saw him re-grow the organ, all whilst Harry and the man chatted away happily.

Then they found out that Xander had an exceptionally rare blood type. They practically begged him donate his organs.

By the time Harry was done, Xander had donated five hearts, three kidneys and sixteen livers, apparently Australia was heavy on the drinkers. It was the most surreal time of Xander's life as he watched his son cut him open and remove each organ all whilst explaining what he was doing.

Then it got worse. Harry took a seat in a bed, raised it into a sitting position and proceeded to open himself up and start removing and re-growing his own organs. Xander did his best to sit there and not panic and throw up. After a while he got used to it.

Australia no longer had an organ shortage and they were working on supplying organs to surrounding islands and Asia.

To end their day, Harry had wanted to enjoy the favourite part of his time working in Australia as he did every week. Working the labour ward.

This had resulted in Harry approaching one couple explaining who he was and asking if they didn't mind an underage but qualified wizard who hadn't even had sex yet delivering their baby.

Twenty minutes later and Xander was passed out on the floor along with the new father whilst Harry and the brand new mother glared at them.

"I can't believe that Nym and Fleur want to go through that!" Xander exclaimed as Harry handed him a cup of water.

"There's no pain if the birthing is magical." Sarah, the new mum explained as she held her baby boy.

"The human body should not be able to do that!" Xander argued.

"Ya big baby." She giggled. "I have a personal question, Lord Hogwarts."

"You can ask if you drop the 'Lord' and stick with 'Xander'." He grinned.

"When you fainted-" she ignored the indignant snort "-your wolf like eyes faded and you had an eye-patch."

Xander clearly looked uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, forgive me. I'll say no more." She said hastily.

"No, it's ok. It's hard, but… what was your question?" Xander assured her.

"I… I was just wondering why Harry couldn't heal your eye."

Harry and Xander kept looking between each other and Sarah whilst gaping like a pair of guppies.

"You've never tried?" Michael, the newly revived father asked in amazement.

"Well, in our defence, he always walks around with his wolf eyes! It just never seemed to come up." Harry sputtered.

"It's true." Came a familiar voice from the doorway. "Harry James Potter! Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Hermione demanded irately. "You know I love helping out with the babies." Her voice becoming shriller and sounding more baby-ish as she saw the new born in Sarah's arms.

"This was a last minute decision, 'Mione." Harry explained. "I wanted to show Dad what we got up to. He handled all the blood and guts well but fainted at a live birth." He snickered.

"Hey!"

"Men!" Hermione scoffed as she cooed over the baby. "Is this your first?"

"Yep, hopefully of many."

"Many?" Michael asked nervously.

He was summarily ignored by the ladies as Xander and Harry laughed.

"Harry, just get on and fix Xander's eye." Hermione said with a roll of her eyes, despite still being fixated on the sleeping baby.

"Lose the wolfies." Harry ordered.

"EW EW EW EW EW!" Sarah squealed as she watch Harry grow a brand new brown eye in the socket. "That was faint worthy!"

"Harry why can't I see?"

"I turned off your sight so you would be less disorientated. In fact we should get you home to bed. It will be easier for you to adapt if you wake up like this and let instinct take over."

"You two go ahead, I'm going to stay." Hermione waved dismissively, not even bothering to look at them.

Harry just sighed and teleported them away.

"They really just let you hang around the labour ward?" Michael asked.

"Well, I do do some work. I'm registered as a trainee Healer, plus I'll probably go and make some donations later."

"You're rich?" He asked curiously. He wasn't sure what to make of the young girl. Very little was known about Hermione Granger as she was highly protected by her boyfriend and his family.

"Financially, yes. But by donations, I meant I would be donating my organs if they need them." She laughed.

Judging by the looks on their faces, she realised they thought she was about to go off and essentially commit suicide. She settled in to explain the transplant procedure.

Xander woke up the following morning to the familiar sensation of two very warm and very soft bodies. Ever since he and Nym had started sleeping together they rarely went to bed without Nym jumping him. Since he had married Fleur, Nym had kept them both up till midnight and beyond.

Nymphadora really managed to live up to her name.

But as exhausted as Nym and Fleur left him (and Fleur was just as insatiable), he had never been happier. The only thing missing was Luna, but she managed to affect their lives still.

If there was time of day the trio hated it was first thing in the morning. They hated having to separate and leave the comfort of their bed and each other. Fleur was the responsible one, despite being the youngest. She would rise and get washed first… which would result in Xander waking up and joining her… in order to save water of course.

The resulting loss and sound of giggling and pleasure would finally rouse Nym who would eagerly join her lovers simply because she wanted what they were having.

They were just finishing dressing when there was a knock on their door. Since they had been shown Rowena's room, they had moved in there to give them some privacy. This was fine by the rest of the family as there were plenty of adults in the Apartment to supervise the youngsters.

"Harry, come for the check up?" Fleur smirked as she opened the door.

"Yep, been any problems?" He asked as he walked into their living room. It was an exact replica of the home by the Grangers.

"No, he hasn't noticed, he even got soap in his eyes and didn't realise." She giggled.

"Excellent! Dad!" Harry called out.

"It's a bit early, Harry." Xander frowned as he walked of the bedroom buckling up his belt.

"This is a professional visit, Dad. Need to check your eyes."

"Why? Did you see an infection?" He asked worriedly as he checked the mirror in the entrance way. "Wait… I have two eyes… to human eyes."

"Is it coming back to you?" Harry asked.

"You did this yesterday?" Xander asked a little nervously. "You… you memory charmed me?"

"Yep, just so you would be able to get used to two eyes a little easier. Otherwise you would be blinking away and rubbing it and making it sore and generally messing up my work!" Harry admonished. "We do the same thing regarding all external body replacements."

Xander turned and looked at Nym and Fleur. "This is great! I can see both of you easily!" He cried happily.

"Yay!"

"Wait!" Xander interrupted Nym as she bounded forward to hug him. Nym looked a little put out. "I just want to see you both for a few seconds."

Nym just rolled her eyes. "You can look plenty later, we'll even give you a real show." She said with a sultry look.

"And there goes my cue to leave." Harry declared before vanishing.

*Chapter 43*: Chapter 43  
"Harry, what the hell are you intending to do with that disgusting piece of cloth?" Neville asked as he teleported into the trunk to monitor Harry's second night examining the horcrux.

Harry looked up and grinned. "This is Dobby's old pillow case, from his days working as the Malfoy's House Elf. I asked him if I could have it to aid me in the destruction of the Dark Lord."

"Well, that explains why Dobby has been strutting around proudly." Neville chuckled. "How exactly is that thing going to help?"

"I am going to remove the soul from the ring and contain it in Dobby's old pillow case."

"Dobby's pillow case is going to be a horcrux?" Neville asked dubiously.

"For a while. I wanted to use a pair of Malfoy's underwear, but anything left was cleaned by the elves."

"Harry, just like your father, you're a sadistic bastard." Neville commented dryly.

"Thanks Nev." Harry returned happily.

"Of course, if your dad was involved, he'd have insisted on using an actual turd. Sirius would have challenged him for the right to provide one."

"And now you understand why he isn't involved." Harry said seriously. "I am not working on any more crap, I already have this piece of Riddle's soul to deal with."

"We should probably stop this train of thought, we just ate." Neville grimaced. "So is transferring the soul a hard job?"

"I think it will be. We might want Fawkes to help." Harry admitted. "Remember when I removed the soul from the tiara? It shot out of there destroying the box on the way. I think this piece will do the same thing so it will be a fight to control it."

"Instead of removing the soul from one object to the other, can't you combine the two objects and then separate them again? That way the soul will always be in a horcrux."

"I'm not sure about manipulating the ring. It's probably important and definitely magical, which is likely why Riddle chose it. I don't want to damage it if I can help it." Harry explained.

"I don't mean combine the actual objects physically, I mean the magic that makes horcuxes."

"Like making a bridge?"

"Kind of, what ever you can make work really." Neville shrugged. "I'm just here to make sure you don't miraculously kill yourself."

"I know it's morbid, but I am curious if it's possible." Harry muttered as he placed the ring on to the dirty cloth and started manipulating the magic.

"It's not." Neville said bluntly.

Harry didn't act surprised. He didn't even look up from his work. "Fawkes tell you?"

"No, I'm becoming more in tune with my Phoenix side. Fawkes says that in a few years I will essentially be a human Phoenix. But I still won't be able to tell you much about what I know."

"A human Phoenix, that must be a first." Harry commented absently. The two objects were now glowing and pulsing.

"Only in this reality, it has happened before though."

The pulsing stopped and Harry held up the dirty cloth. "Well, in this reality, Riddle's soul is were it belongs. With the rest of the filth."

"Congratulations Harry. You have personified 'Poetic Justice'." Neville said clapping sarcastically. "Dobby will be so proud."

"Master's call for Dobby?" The little elf queried as he popped in.

"No, we were just talking about you and how you contributed to defeating the Dark Lord." Harry explained as he brandished the pillowcase. "Behold, the chains that once bound a noble House Elf, now bind the soul fragment of the Darkest Wizard of our age!"

"Xander was right, you could join Dumbledore in the Amateur Dramatics club with Moody." Neville snarked.

"Can… can Dobby spit at the Dark Lord?" The small creature asked nervously.

Harry and Neville shared a look and a shrug, Harry dropped the rag to the floor. "Have at it, Dobs."

Instantly the little elf was spitting and jumping angrily on the rag. "DIRTY! NASTY! MEAN WIZARD! Harry Potter will teach you!" Dobby raged angrily.

Harry and Neville looked on worriedly before Harry grabbed Dobby and pulled the now sobbing elf into a hug.

"Easy Dobby. I'll never let him hurt you again, I promise." Harry soothed.

"Dobby is sorry Master." Dobby sobbed. "Bad wizard hurt Dobby. Old Master let him. Dobby was so scared."

"You're family now Dobby, we take care of family." Neville stated firmly before he changed forms and began to sing. The tune was soft and lilting and soon left Harry holding a sleeping and worn out Dobby.

Harry moved to the side of the room and conjured a comfortable bed for his small friend.

"I guess we forgot that Dobby would have had contact with Riddle." Neville spat sadly as he transformed back.

"Just one more reason to make him pay." Harry sighed as he turned to pick up the ring, totally ignoring the new horcrux.

"What's so special about the ring?" Neville asked.

"There's nothing in the band, the magic is all in the stone. It's nothing like I've ever seen before."

"Well, hand it here. Let's find out if it's lethal." Neville sighed.

Harry looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You forgetting I'm just as indestructible as you? More so as I don't need help getting better, and likely won't turn into a baby when I'm re-born."

Neville flushed in embarrassment. "Good point. I'm really not ready for a repeat run on nappies."

"Ok, brace yourself!" Harry warned as he took a deep breath and slid the ring on his finger.

Both boys flinched and turned their faces away.

"Anything happen?" Neville asked from his defensive posture.

"Not yet."

"Think it will?"

Harry glanced at the ring still sat on his finger. "Nope." He sighed as he stood up straight.

"Different finger?" Neville asked.

"I am not putting this ring where one puts a wedding ring. Hermione would likely castrate me for eternity."

"That's what the Stag Charm is for."

"She'd find a way to crack it." Harry said with certainty.

"Ok, so castration not withstanding, any other ideas?"

"None. It's a powerful ring, but I have no idea what it does."

"I have a question." Neville said with a hint of worry. "Does the ring come off?"

Harry instantly had a deer-in-the-headlights look. He grabbed the ring and started pulling. "GOD DAMMIT!" He screeched. "There is always something!"

"I take it this means you need to cut your finger off?"

"Might as well lose the whole hand, it'll be easier." Harry sighed. He reached for his wand in his pocket only to find it missing. "This is bad. The Elder Wand is missing. I had it when I entered here." Harry said as he frantically started looking around for it.

"Harry, the ring is gone too." Neville pointed out.

"Oh come on!" Harry cried exasperatedly.

"Stick out your hand, we'll lop it off just in case it's not detectable." Neville instructed as he drew his wand.

"You just want to cut my arm off." Harry sneered. "Bloody masochist." He muttered as he rolled up his sleeve and held out his arm.

"No numbing charm?"

"Nah, I've given them up for lent. They don't seem to do anything as I don't seem to feel the pain, the worst I feel is the equivalent of a scratch."

Neville shrugged and with a flick of his wand sliced through Harry's wrist.

"That's new. Do it again."

The hand was still attached.

No matter what they did they couldn't get the hand off. It was half an hour later when Dobby woke to the confusing sight and sound of Neville standing over Harry with a revved up chainsaw as he attempted to remove Harry's legs.

"Master Neville!" Dobby screeched as he vanished the chainsaw, leaving Neville and Harry confused as to what was happening. "You is not supposed to be cutting each other like that!"

"It's alright Dobs. Harry has just gotten a new upgrade and we are trying to figure it out."

Dobby just stared them, blinking occasionally. "You is not cutting bits of Master Harry off?"

"Trying to, but it doesn't work, take a look." Neville said as he waved the elf over. He then proceeded to try and cut off Harry's hand.

Dobby watched as the beam of light moved through Harry's wrist only for the flesh to seal up right behind it with no blood or scarring.

"Dobby is requesting to speak freely." He said still staring.

"Erm, granted." Harry shrugged as he shared an amused look with Neville.

"Bloody hell!" The elf said with pure awe. Dobby's eyes snapped to the two boys and he distinctly blushed. "Sorry Masters."

"No worries, Dobby. We said far worse whilst you were sleeping." Harry laughed.

"Has you told Master Xander?"

"Not yet, we were just trying to figure it out. Might as well do it now." Harry sighed. He knew this was not going to be a fun conversation.

Harry sent out a mental message for all of the family to meet in Xander's office. Neville meanwhile teleported them to the seventh floor where he knocked on the door.

Shortly the entire Family was seated.

"Harry's invulnerability has stepped up a notch." Neville stated without pre-amble. Before anyone could speak, Neville had conjured a sword and sliced through Harry's neck.

Nobody moved, they sat there. They were staring at Harry waiting for him to react… hopefully not by keeling over.

Very slowly Harry turned his gaze to Neville who was still standing there holding the sword. He did not look happy.

"At what point did we decide to test decapitation?" Harry asked quietly.

"'Round about the same time I realised some stuff with my Phoenix-y ways." Neville shrugged.

"And your warning… what? Got lost in the mail?" Harry demanded.

"Would you really have wanted to have to worry about it?"

"Enough!" Minerva screeched. Her heart had only just started beating again and she was still fairly nauseous at seeing her son beheaded. "What is this new knowledge, Neville?" She demanded tightly.

"That is something we need Nicholas Flamel here for." Neville answered before he vanished only to reappear an instant later with both Nicholas and Perenelle.

"Neville Longbottom, what are you doing?" Perenelle demanded irately.

"It's time for Ignotus to come clean." Neville said quietly.

"He found it?" Nicholas asked with tightly controlled anticipation.

"Found it and is currently wearing it."

"Hello! An explanation please!" Nym snapped.

Nicholas cleared his throat somewhat apologetically. "Ah, yes. You see, I am also known as Ignotus Peverell. You may have heard of me?"

Hermione gasped. "You were one of the brothers who owned a Deathly Hallow! You met Death and were supposed to have died… eventually."

"Yes, well there was a lot of poetic licence taken. Mainly my brother Antioch." He said with a roll of his eyes as he sat in a chair his wife had conjured.

"Wait… you're Ignotus Peverell?" Godric asked in surprise.

"I am… Grandfather." He smirked.

"Gabrielle didn't have any sons!" Godric argued.

"No, but her great grandson did. We knew of our lineage but as we were from the maternal Gryffindor line, we had no claim to the name."

"So you and I are related as well?" Harry asked.

"Indeed, you are my many-times-great grandson." Nicholas said proudly. "You actually are my heir, when I pass on you will inherit both the Flamel and Peverell lines."

"Can we get back to the part where Nicky is going to explain Harry's latest upgrades?" Xander demanded.

"Patience Xander. A little history is needed." Nicholas admonished. "Now, as I was saying, most of the story is true. We essentially bypassed Death and he gave us a gift each, the Elder Wand, which Harry took from Dumbledore. My Cloak of Invisibility, handed down from father to son, and finally the Resurrection Stone, perverted by Riddle."

"I don't have them, they vanished… not sure about the Cloak though." Harry pointed out.

"Ah! But you do have them. By claiming the last of the Hallows they are now a part of you. You have become Death." He said with clear pride.

"Death! I thought it was supposed to be the Master of Death!" Hermione cried worriedly.

"Now that is part of the story that only I know." Nicholas explained. "When I removed my cloak to meet Death, he was very upset. He had hoped that either myself or one of my brothers would eventually claim all three and take his place as Death. It seems that he had been around for billions of years, not in this reality, but in alternate realities as well.

"He never told me why he came to this reality, but the fact was he was here and he wanted to rest. He was tired and he felt it was time for a successor."

"Death is… dead?" Sirius asked dubiously.

Nicolas just laughed. "No, he has merely given up the responsibilities of Death. He lives somewhere. Possibly in this reality. You cannot kill a creature such as he."

"But, wouldn't that mean that no one should have died then?" Hermione asked.

"No. Death is not responsible for the miscellaneous deaths of the average being, he is responsible for ensuring that people don't cheat death or succumb to a Death that is not theirs.

"Death is merely responsible for those who attempt to cheat death."

"Voldemort." Sirius snarled.

"Exactly! Over the past millennium there have been numerous dark wizards who were hard to put down because of various extreme measures they had taken to defeat death. Now that Harry is Death, the balance will begin to be restored."

"But why is Harry, 'Death'?" Hermione asked.

"Because Death gave me a task to stay alive until the Deathly Hallows, as they are known, were reunited. I had a feeling it would be Harry, Death seemed to think it would be highly amusing but never elaborated why."

"Because Harry is also the Master of Magic." Neville explained. Seeing their expectant looks he continued. "Harry is a magical nexus. He didn't survive the Killing Curse because he was destined to be Death, he survived because magic can't hurt him. Magic can't actually affect him."

"Phoenix knowledge?" Harry queried the source of his friends information.

Neville just nodded.

"But we cast diagnostic spells all the time on him." Hermione argued.

"That's just because Harry allows it to happen. He is the Master of Magic after all."

"Ok, so… Harry is 'Death', this means he is un-killable and responsible for ensuring people don't try and cheat death, right?" Dan asked.

"Correct."

"What does it mean that he's the 'Master of Magic'?"

"He can commune with magic. It's different than his being 'Death'. He isn't 'Magic'." Nicholas said with air-quotes. "He has a greater control and understanding of magic, to the point that he doesn't have his own magic, per say, he has control of all magic."

"This all sounds very confusing." Minerva sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"It is, I still don't fully understand it and I've been thinking about it for over 800 years. But Harry has plenty of time to figure things out. Just think of this as a benefit and nothing to worry about."

"Will this make Voldemort invulnerable?" Harry asked. "He was able to beat me before, at Azkaban."

"No, because as powerful as you are, you are still, ultimately, human." Nicholas explained. "You still need to train yourself, you need to experiment with your abilities and figure out what you can do. You are un-killable, but not unbeatable. After all, my brothers and I beat the last Death." He smirked.

"Can I just pretend this never happened and go back to… whatever passes for normality in my life?" Harry begged.

"Isn't that what I just said?" Nicholas asked slightly bewildered.

"You just spent twenty minutes or so explaining how Harry was just two steps away from God." Nym said dryly.

"Is it me or is that thing blowing in a non-existent wind?" Neville asked as he and Harry sat staring at the filthy horcrux that was hanging on a conjured washing line.

It was the following day and they were back to work and purposefully trying not to think about Harry's new status.

"It's more that it is being drawn towards Riddle." Harry sighed.

"Wait… it's a Riddle Divining Rod?" Neville asked incredulously.

"Pretty much. Plus I can see links towards what I assume are other horcruxes."

"Ok, but why aren't you happy about this?" Neville asked.

"I can figure out where Riddle is, where the horcruxes are, but I may not be able to figure out where the rest of the Death Eaters are. Even knowing those three things, what order should we deal with them?"

*THWACK*

"OW!" Harry cried as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Seriously? Haven't you been paying attention to anything Xander and the others have been trying to teach you?" Neville demanded in annoyance. "DELEGATION!" He roared. "You are not the be all and end all of the world! Sure, you might be the only one that can find these things, but that doesn't mean you should be the one to make all the decisions about handling them." Neville was pacing agitatedly as he ranted.

"So… we tell Xander what we know and leave it to them?"

"NO! We tell Xander and the others and then we ALL sit down and discuss and plan!"

Harry frowned, then a grin spread across his face slowly. "That sounds like a good idea. To the Batcave, Robin!" He declared with a dramatic pose before teleporting out.

"Sweet Merlin." Neville muttered. "And to think, I have to put up with him for eternity."

The following day a full-blown council of war was held. On the magical side was Xander, Mad-Eye, Neville and Harry. The inclusion of two teenage boys was quickly put to rest when it was pointed out that Harry was the only one with the absolute power and ability to do certain things and Neville was a Phoenix. Once a Phoenix was explained to those who didn't know, they quickly ran out of arguments.

On the non-magical side were the Mark Bloomfield, the Prime Minister, Her Majesty the Queen, Agent Marsden and a high ranking officer from each branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces.

Needless to say, they were the ones making the fuss about Harry and Neville's presence.

"Do you know why there are only four of us from the Magical World here?" Alastor asked in his usual grumpy manner.

"My understanding is that there aren't many Magicals to start with. It makes sense to only have an accurate representation of that fact." General Armstead of Her Majesty's Army said dismissively.

"Actually, it's because the single most powerful Magical being in the world is seated here. He's the one with that lightning bolt scar."

"I hardly think-"

"Yoda." Agent Marsden interrupted with a blunt statement.

"I beg your pardon?" The General sputtered.

"Yoda, a fictional character who whilst highly diminutive in size and stature was said to be one of the most powerful wielders of the Force.

"My understanding is that size doesn't matter when it comes to magic, Lord Gryffindor is recorded as one of the most powerful Magicals alive due to the feats he has performed."

"I believe what Agent Marsden is saying is: Don't assume." Xander smirked.

"Because we all know what happens when you assume." Harry added.

"Bottom line is Potter stays. He is integral to the war due to his unique abilities, his singular knowledge and the fact that he is likely to be the lynch pin of any plans." Alastor said with an air of finality. "Now, Harry, bring us up to speed so we can devise a plan."

"The Goblins, through interrogation of Dumbledore, were able to find another horcrux. I have managed to transfer the soul fragment to another container and examine the magic. Using the horcrux I believe I can track the other horcruxes and Riddle himself.

"What I can't do is track the Death Eaters."

"I had a thought about that, what if we got you a Death Eater, could you experiment with their Mark and see if you can track them?" Xander asked.

Harry shrugged. "I guess. I remember Igor's had a ton of magic, I just didn't know what to do with it."

"We have Snape in custody, use him." Mad-Eye grunted.

"As long as I can knock him out. If I have to put up with his crap I might end up killing him. Or worse." Harry groused.

"Can we go back to what you originally said?" Admiral Jenson requested. "You transferred the soul fragment to another container… what was the previous container and what is the current container?"

"Well… it was a ring of substantial power or ability, but now it is the disgusting garments of slavery once worn by a friend." Harry shrugged.

"Can you elaborate on this ring?" Marsden asked.

"And it's protections now it is no longer housing a piece of Riddle's soul." Admiral Jenson added.

"Short version is the ring had the ability to call forth the spirits of the dead from their rest. It was one of three items that were known as the Deathly Hallows. If the three were combined they would grant the wielder power over death. But we discovered that's not true. As for the protections… it's as safe as it will ever be." Xander snickered.

"Explain please." Jenson demanded warily.

"The ring is now a part of Harry. He doesn't just have power over death, he literally is Death." Neville explained.

"Doesn't matter." Mad-Eye snapped. "Can't change it, just have to adapt. Potter is completely un-killable and can probably waste the Dark Lord with a thought. Our job is to plan our moves to keep the casualties and damage to a minimum."

"I beg to differ!" Jenson retorted angrily. "You just told us that a powerful artefact capable of defeating death is in the hands of a teenaged boy! That absolutely requires discussion, and dare I say, action."

"Well you can discuss it on your own time. You can't do anything about it, trust me, we tried."

"Enough gentlemen." Her Majesty interrupted. "Mr. Moody is correct. It is beyond the scope of these meetings. Furthermore, Lord Gryffindor has my utmost trust. Only Lord Longbottom could possibly be a better choice for a guardian or such dangerous objects."

"The question is, I believe, what order should we handle things in and how." Mark added. "Let's focus, shall we?"

"I don't see why we don't just destroy Riddle and deal with his minions afterwards. It's Riddle that the public fears." Sirius offered.

"Won't that create a power vacuum that will spill out on to the streets?" The Queen asked.

"I doubt it." Xander answered. "Sirius was right to use the term 'minion'. They are all followers, some of them may try to grasp the reins of power but it won't be for long. Harry can probably figure out the Dark Mark in a day or so, after that it is just a matter of tracking down the Death Eaters and interrogating them."

"The hardest part will be capturing them alive." Moody grunted unhappily.

"Why do we need them alive?" General Armstead enquired.

"So we can find out the identities of any unmarked Death Eaters. We want to catch them all, these Death Eaters are the sickest creatures imaginable."

"We could always send Slinky into whatever hideouts we find." Sirius offered.

"I beg your pardon?" Jenson asked offended.

"Slinky, Lord Slytherin's Basilisk. She can petrify a person or kill them with a look. Harry used her to subdue most of the Death Eaters at the Tri-Wizard Tournament final." Sirius explained.

"Oh." Jenson seemed a little disappointed, he had been gearing up for a rant on how this was a serious matter.

"How do you expect to get a 60 foot snake in a house?" Moody demanded in annoyance.

"I… er… magic?" Sirius blurted.

"I think Slinky would work best from the outside, capturing any escapees." Xander offered as he and the boys tried not to laugh.

"This is hardly a laughing matter!" Jenson snapped, he finally saw his opening.

"Yes. Yes it is." Neville snickered.

"The Phoenix has spoken!" Xander declared solemnly.

"Your Majesty, are really expected to work with these… people?"

"Admiral, you would do well to remember your place." She answered imperiously. "Lord Hogwarts is the reigning monarch of two species, Lord Longbottom is a creature of legend renowned for their wisdom and goodness. And Lord Gryffindor is the Master of Magic and Death. They are the highest ranking individuals in the room… possibly the world."

The look The Queen was giving Admiral was one that could melt his medals. Admiral Jenson decided this wasn't worth his career and decided to stick to the facts. Her Majesty merely nodded to the wizards to continue.

"I don't think we will need to be involving non-magical personnel in the capture or killing of Riddle and his minions." Harry mused. "But having them available for support would be useful. Especially regarding communications.

"I think the main concern for the non-magical side of things is protecting or reacting to backlash from the Death Eaters when we start attacking."

The rest of the meeting was used to establish a basic plan to protect the public in the event of backlash from any attack on Riddle and the Death Eaters.

Harry spent the next few evenings working at an RAF base to triangulate the location of Riddle and his horcruxes. Over the next week Unspeakables would perform covert reconnaissance of the locations and report back to finalise plans. The hope was to have Riddle and his minions sorted by Christmas.

This left Harry and the family with some time to relax. Harry had found a nice restaurant in Australia with private rooms and great views of the ocean. He took Hermione there now and again for a date when he wasn't swamped with marking homework.

Sirius, on the other hand, was having a hectic time. He had been appointed as the Interim Minister for Magic. It was an announcement made relatively quietly and the involvement of non-magicals was still classified.

Sirius was spending his days meeting with each department head and discussing the current practices and more often than not getting into heated arguments when he tried to explain why they were so inefficient.

He had taken great pleasure in removing Lockhart from his office and having him arrested. He had promptly promoted Kingsley to Head Auror and the current Head Auror to the Head of the DMLE, at least temporarily. Every night he headed to Hogwarts to beg Amelia to return, but she was more than happy with her current job. Lucius Malfoy was still missing as he hadn't been caught in the purge during the initial take over, but he was definitely not the Chief Warlock anymore.

He wasn't fighting alone though. He had conscripted Sal as his Under-Secretary and personal advisor. Lord Slytherin had tried to object, but Sirius had gone behind his back… to his mother. Joyce had ordered him to quit whining and help the poor man out.

It was currently 6pm in the evening on November 14th and Sal and Sirius were waiting for their next appointment.

"Harry, 'bout time you arrived." Sirius groused as his appointment turned up.

"Blame Dad. He's the one who made me a professor. Now I have to be available to answer students questions." Harry retorted with a smirk.

"And a finer choice he couldn't have made!" Sal interrupted before the pair could build up steam. "Sirius?"

Sirius just rolled his eyes. "Would you care to explain why 80% of the patients at St. Mungo's miraculously got better last night?"

"Divine intervention?" He offered innocently.

Sirius just glared at him.

"Neville was really upset when he visited and started bawling all over everyone?"

Sirius continued with the glare but the corners of his mouth were losing the battle. Sal was sniggering away.

"Maybe-"

"Stop! We all know it was you. Ridiculous excuses aside." Sirius sighed as he let the smile form. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"That they didn't need to suffer?"

"Do you know the problems this could cause?" Sirius demanded.

"Yes, people could be happy, living their lives. It's an absolute disaster!" Harry declared in mock horror.

"What about the effect this will have on the economy?"

"Why? St. Mungo's will save money on treating patients, families won't suffer if their primary earner is laid up."

"And eventually we won't have a need for all of the medical personnel. Jobs will need to be cut!"

"So… babies won't need delivering? Old people at the end of their lives won't need care?" Harry really couldn't see what the big deal was. "Look, all I've done is free up the work load and the cash. They can now be redirected to the remaining patients to ensure that they are given exceptional care.

"If I can do this for the rest of the world then the world will be a much brighter place. It goes against everything good in the world to have my power and not use it to help people. Do you know just how much work it took for me to heal all those people?" He asked.

"No." Sal commented, he was actually very curious.

"I stood in the middle of each ward and then healed each person by thinking and focusing. I had the whole hospital done in under two hours."

"Amazing!"

"Imagine how long it would take me to cover all the major hospitals in the world?"

"Could you at least talk to us about this before you pull this sort of crap?" Sirius begged. "Just so that we can have an explanation ready, I had several first generation magicals fearing that their Jesus Christ was coming. You could wind up causing mass hysteria!"

"Oh."

"Yes, 'oh'!" Sirius muttered. "You did good Harry, but there is a reason we are trying to get you to lean on others. You might be Death and the Master of Magic, but you were born human. Even Nev can make mistakes. Look at Fawkes, he made a mistake by choosing Dumbledore!"

"Yeah… I guess your right." Harry sighed in resignation. "I guess this means I should go and let Arthur Bramble know I did the same thing in Sydney and Brisbane?" He asked sheepishly.

Sirius had resigned himself to his fate of seemingly cleaning up after his godson for the rest of his comparatively short life. He, Sal and Harry had taken a quick trip to visit with Arthur Bramble and the Prime Minister of Australia. Unlike in Europe and the British Magical Empire, the other countries didn't have a separation of magical and non-magical governments. They did however keep the two worlds separate.

Both Arthur and the Prime Minister had laughed at Sirius' worry and merely asked Harry what they could do to help speed the process up. The Prime Minister had offered to arrange a meeting with Sirius, Harry and the Queen to offer support to do the same thing in England.

For the first time since he joined the Unspeakables and MI5 when he left Hogwarts, he actually thought about quitting. If only they would let him.

*Chapter 44*: Chapter 44  
When Xander first arrived in this reality, he had been pissed at what Harry had been through. He quickly grew to love the little boy who had suffered so much. Joyce's suggestion of adoption was the best thing he had ever heard.

It took a few years before Harry was able to freely express himself. He quickly learned from Xander the art of making jokes, from the Fred and George he learned how to pull pranks. From his mother's he learned to love.

Hermione taught him a different type of love, he had trouble expressing it, but Hermione was patient and understanding.

By the beginning of Harry's fourth year he was able to be a normal teenage boy. Xander had never been prouder. Harry was making jokes, pulling pranks and snogging the hell out of his girlfriend and actually making friends on his own.

Then the bastards had taken him and tortured him.

Xander still had nightmares about what he himself saw and witnessed. Now and again Fleur and Nym would wake him from his thrashing and growling, he loved them even more for it.

Harry had nearly reverted completely to his eleven year old self. It had been his newly developed ability to generate artificial limbs that had helped him reassert himself. If there was one thing Harry wanted to do in life, it was to help people. Harry was able to cope with teaching the small groups in France and Europe because as far as he was concerned the patient volunteering was the centre of attention.

This had given him the confidence to sit with Poppy on stage and even answer questions. Harry was truly healing from his ordeals.

Then came the revelation that Harry was 'Death'. Which was weird considering that was the role they played when scaring Death Eaters. Xander had no idea what to do with the revelation.

He had become withdrawn as he had always tried to protect Harry, from the bad things in life like being hurt and having to hurt others. But he had already failed to protect him from being hurt and Harry was now the personification of the other side of the coin.

Nicholas had had to sit him down and explain that Death was not a malevolent being out to capture as many souls as possible. Death was a keeper of the peace. Ensuring that those who died were meant to and those that weren't lived.

Harry had later helped when he took Xander along for a trip to Australia where he watched in horror as Harry opened himself up and started removing his own organs for transplant and then re-grow them.

The less said about Harry playing midwife the better.

The bottom line was that Xander was one exceptionally proud father. Harry had weathered a horrendous slew of storms in his young life and emerged battered and bruised but ultimately stronger and wiser.

Occasionally he did things that made him wonder about his sanity. Like today.

They were meeting with the Queen and her people to discuss their next move when Harry placed several disgusting objects on the table. There was a dirty pillowcase, a toilet seat which didn't look very sanitary, a pair of underwear which again hadn't been cleaned, a dead rat which Harry had fortunately tied into a plastic bag and finally a dustbin that Harry had clearly nicked from the streets of Newcastle as it had the city emblem on it.

"What is the meaning of this?" Jenson demanded in outrage.

None of the other magicals aside from Neville had a clue. "What do you think the meaning of this is?" Neville asked calmly.

"This is clearly some kind of outrageous insult!"

"Why?"

"You have just emptied a bunch of rubbish on to the table where her Majesty sits." Jenson sneered. "How much more insulting could you get?"

"Well, the king of the Goblins and Werewolves is also at the table, not to mention a Phoenix, Death and the Master of Magic… so I would say a whole lot more insulting. If you are correct in that this is an insult."

"How could this be anything but an insult?" He demanded.

"Ya know, it's questions and statements like that that make me wonder why Her Majesty let you get as far in the ranks as you have." Xander sighed.

"We would have to agree." The Queen agreed glibly.

Jenson looked like he had swallowed a slug. He had effectively been backhanded by his ultimate commander.

The General grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him back into his seat. "I assume there is a story behind this mess, Lord Gryffindor?" He asked with an amused smile.

"Yes General there is!" Harry said blithely as he glared at Jenson. "These are the horcruxes. Working with the RAF we were able to locate them all. The Unspeakables of MI5 then proceeded to scout the locations and were able to provide myself, Dad and Neville with plenty of information so that we could go in with an appropriate team to retrieve them."

"Can I ask what your team consisted of?" Agent Marsden asked curiously.

"A family friend and worker for Gringotts who is an expert curse-breaker as well as a team of Goblins and Werewolves for back up in the event of trouble of the Death Eater kind. And then of course was the MI5 Unspeakable team on the hill behind us watching the location." Harry smirked knowingly.

"How did you know about them?" He asked in surprise.

"They were not downwind." Xander grinned.

"Plus I make it a point to check all areas around me when I go some where. I've been captured and tortured for most of my school life, I do my best to avoid it nowadays." Harry groused.

"I'm fairly certain you have no idea what torture is." Jenson scoffed.

"Admiral, should you choose to make just one more disparaging remark of disrespect then I will have you brought up on charges. You clearly haven't read the files on our esteemed guests or you would realise that what Lord Gryffindor has been through makes your time in Vietnam seem like a walk in the park!" The Queen ranted.

"Admiral, take a look in my eyes, if you dare." Harry said quietly as he gazed at the repugnant man.

Despite the chastisement by The Queen, Jenson didn't think much of the 'wizards'. He certainly wasn't going to back down from a challenge from some whelp. He returned the stare.

Like with most things, Harry was making this up on the fly. He stared into the eyes of the Admiral and pushed his memories of the graveyard into the man's mind.

The Admiral began to scream in agony and fear. Harry broke contact as the man fell to the floor and started heaving. He soon vomited.

"Oh god, I'm sorry!" Harry cried as he dived through the table, phasing as he went. "Neville, start singing!"

"What happened?" Sirius asked.

"I don't think I just sent him the visual side of things, I think I miscalculated and sent him the feelings and sensations!" Harry said frantically.

"Out of the way Potter." Moody snapped as he knelt down beside the shivering man and cupped the back of his head. He aimed his wand between the man's eyes. "Obliviate!"

The man instantly went limp.

"You removed his memories?" Marsden queried.

"Just of the horrors. Not the effects it had on him. He took up the challenge and failed, he needs to remember he failed." Moody explained. "He'll have some nightmares, might need your muggle counselling, but he'll survive." He said almost disappointedly.

"How is he physically?" Marsden enquired. He wasn't really worried, the Admiral had all but asked for this.

"He's fine, he might develop a headache but that will be stress related." Harry neglected to tell them the man had soiled himself, as far as Harry was concerned that was covered by the confidentiality laws. Harry was cursing himself for being so stupid. The Queen had already intimated that the man had ben tortured, so he likely had some residual issues and his actions had just brought them to the fore and exacerbated them.

"You are without a doubt, one of the strongest me I have ever met." The Admiral breathed quietly as he lay with his head still in Harry's lap.

"Admiral, how do you feel?" Harry asked earnestly.

"Like a damned fool." He spat as he struggled to rise. He leaned heavily with his hands on the back of one of the conference table chairs. "As Her Majesty stated earlier, I served in Vietnam. I was captured and tortured. What helped me rise through the ranks was a desire to ensure that none of my men ever suffered what I did.

"You suffered worse. Far, far worse. And not just because of your age, which was… disgusting. Anyone doubts your experience, send them to me." He said with a grimace as he held out his hand.

Harry didn't hesitate as he grasped the proffered hand and shook it.

"Perhaps we should continue with the meeting." Mark offered.

"Now, as I understand it, having all these horcruxes will allow you to kill Riddle?" Mark asked once they were seated.

"Harry can kill him regardless, but the horcruxes were dangerous to begin with, now they are just trash." Neville explained.

"They 'were' dangerous? How?"

"The original objects used as containers were items of great historical and magical value. They were also objects with a purpose, a cup you drink from, a locket you wear, a diary you write in, etcetera.

"They were also charmed with compulsions to make someone use them, this would have allowed the horcrux to latch onto their souls and create a copy of Riddle. I transferred the horcruxes to these pieces of rubbish and added a charm to make them more repulsive, which might explain Admiral Jenson's earlier behaviour."

"No, I appreciate the out you are offering, but those were my own mistakes, no one else had such a reaction." The Jenson admitted sadly. "But I will admit to feeling… repulsed."

There was a general consensus of that fact.

"If the horcruxes are here and relatively safe, why not simply destroy them?" Admiral Rothshide of Her Majesty's Navy asked, he was a very quiet man that reminded Xander of Oz. Only spoke when necessary and even then was fairly economical with words.

"Dad?" Harry offered the floor to Xander. "This was your idea."

Xander rolled his eyes. "Fine, last time Harry freed a horcrux from it's container it fled the castle and we believe it returned to join with Riddle. According to my brothers, sister and mother, Riddle would have been deeply affected by the return of a piece of his soul. He would have suffered emotions like guilt and sadness that he got rid of by, essentially, getting rid of his humanity.

"The plan is for Harry to release these pieces of souls just prior to whatever attack we plan on Riddle. This should weaken and disorientate him enough for anyone to take him out."

"And the plan is to kill Riddle?" Marsden asked.

"The plan is for Harry to act in his role as Death and destroy his soul completely." Neville said with a quiet seriousness. "There will be no afterlife for him. The energies of his soul will be completely dispersed into the universe."

Xander could see they were uncertain of this choice. "Ask yourself this, could you really justify allowing him to perpetrate his crimes on others? Because that is what will happen."

It was agreed that this was a decision beyond them, they would leave it, reluctantly in the hands of Death and his two Phoenix companions.

The rest of the meeting was a productive effort which established a plan that would see Harry and Xander's desire of being rid of Riddle by Christmas fulfilled. After the meeting Harry called Admiral Jenson aside.

"My Lord?" The Admiral with what was clearly a great deal of respect.

"Please, just Harry sir. I wish to speak with you as a Doctor. When I injured you earlier I-"

"Harry, you did nothing I didn't seek, granted I got more than I bargained for, but that was far from your fault." The Admiral corrected.

"Still, when you were hurt I slipped into my role as Healer and scanned you to make sure you were ok. As a result I am now bound by any and all confidentiality laws concerning your health. But the reason I wanted to talk to you is your leg."

Jenson had lost his leg during the Iraq/Kuwait war, he was subsequently removed from the field and promoted. He was amputated above the knee.

"If you are offering to heal, it wouldn't be wise, from a secrecy standpoint, people will notice if I suddenly re-grow a limb." He chuckled.

"But what if only those you told about it could tell it was real?" Harry said excitedly. "I believe I could cast a Fidelius charm so that the secret would be that your prosthetic leg is real, anyone else who sees it would see the prosthetic."

"It's a tempting thought, but I would feel wrong. I wouldn't be able to tell my wife. My children will not be able to know." He explained sadly.

Harry sighed tiredly. "Look, magicals are an evolutionary step. If there was no secrecy and separation between the two worlds, then there would be no such thing as a 'non-magical'. For whatever reason, I am now the Master of Magic. I intend to see to it that the world gets back on track and that magicals become the primary primate on the planet. Non-magicals shouldn't exist, you should be a magical, it's only because magicals chose to hide away that you and everyone you know isn't a magical.

"Who knows, maybe this is the reason I was made and am in fact the Master of Magic."

"You want to offer this to all war vets, don't you." The Admiral challenged with a wry grin.

"Why not? They sacrificed for us, as did you. There is even a chance I can start inducing magic in completely non-magicals, I'm definitely going to turn all squibs into magicals like I did with Her Majesty."

Jenson chuckled in amazement. He couldn't believe he had been such a fool to have judged the young man so harshly. "Come with me My Lord." He said as he guided Harry back to the table.

"Your Majesties, gentlemen, Lord Gryffindor and I would like to discuss something on a different topic with you all."

"Oh god, he's gonna do it again." Xander groaned.

"Do what?" Mark asked.

"Change the world." Xander snorted. "What do you have planned this time?"

"Lord Gryffindor has offered a way to heal our wounded veterans without revealing magic to anyone but the veterans and their close family relatives. He has proposed to re-grow missing limbs but cast a modified Fidelius charm that makes those not in the know see a prosthetic."

"I take it he asked you to be his test subject?" Xander asked.

"Considering the benefits to our wounded men and women, I have agreed." Jenson answered.

"It's a damned slippery slope." Moody grunted. "It starts with magicals re-growing the limbs of combat veterans, which I am all for." Moody patted his own re-grown leg. "Then it'll be having Healers on site to heal the wounded as they come in so they never actually lose the legs. Then there'll be demands for wizards to apply protection charms and shields… which will eventually lead to wizards being recruited to fight… which leads to full blown wizarding battles… which leads to a complete breakdown of the Statute of Secrecy… and we all know where that leaves us… tied to a stake as we burn."

There was a moments silence. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Alastor Moody." Sirius said as he rolled his eyes.

"Tell me I'm wrong." He challenged.

"You're wrong."

Everyone turned in surprise at the softly spoken statement made by the just as softly spoken Neville.

"You know some thing Phoenix-y?" Xander asked.

"I know that Harry is the Master of Magic. I know that Harry has the deepest understanding of magic since Merlin. Deeper than that of a Phoenix. If Harry says that there shouldn't be non-magicals, then that is the truth.

"Anyone with an ounce of common sense will see that the wizarding world will be exposed within your children's lifetimes, Harry is merely ensuring that when that happens, wizards are seen as a people to be welcomed and aspired to."

It was somewhat of a shock to hear Neville speak so firmly and specifically. His very nature as a Phoenix meant he was privy to information that he couldn't reveal and had learned over the past few years to be very careful in what he said.

But here, the human Phoenix had given what could very well amount to a prophecy, or a blessing for Harry's personal quest.

"Would you like to walk out of here on your own two legs, Admiral Jenson?" Harry asked.

"Sounds better than walking out on someone else's legs." Jenson nodded with smirk.

"God that sounds so gross." Xander grimaced.

"I'm going to remove the lower half of your trouser leg, I can fix it afterwards." Harry explained as he indicated the Admiral should sit in one of the conference room chairs.

He efficiently vanished the aforementioned material revealing the synthetic and robotic looking prosthetic limb.

"This is a highly advanced model." Harry mused.

"It's a prototype, I help with the testing." Jenson explained as he began to remove it.

He handed the limb to Rothshide who placed it on the conference table.

"Ok, first, I numb the area, it might feel a little uncomfortable otherwise." Harry cast the numbing charm. "Now I just apply some magic and let your body and the magic sort things out and put it all right." Harry explained as his hands began to glow.

The assembled monarchs, ministers, agents and soldiers watched in fascination as the skin around the stump began to peel back revealing the bone and tissue, they watched as the bone and muscle began to spiral out and form rest of the tibia, the knee cap and lower leg finishing with the ankle and foot.

"Are you sure you want all ten toes?" Harry asked.

"Harry!" Sirius gasped.

Jenson just chuckled. "I believe it would be nice to be able to count past fifteen again."

Harry just smiled and continued applying the magic, once the muscles and bones were complete the flesh, blood vessels and skin began to grow.

"Right, would you like the piggy song as I do the toe nails?" Harry smirked.

"Piggy song?" Jenson could help himself asking in amusement. His emotions were high as he witnessed the young man rectify a great tragedy in his life.

"When I do kids, I leave the toenails off and sing the piggy song, you know 'This little piggy went to market…'"

As Harry sang the nursery rhyme he would grow the toenails for each 'piggy' causing them all to laugh.

"Right, I now pronounce you Man and Leg." Harry declared happily. "I'm going to remove the numbing charm, do not move or try to move it. You haven't had a leg for a long time and your brain needs time to deal with the new sensations or you will cause a feedback overload and likely pass out.

"It was not a fun time the first time that happened." Harry muttered.

"I understand." Jenson said with a happy grin still plastered over his face, he looked like he had lost twenty years of age.

Harry didn't remove the charm completely, but he did lower the strength.

"Now then, I am going to start massaging your leg from the top down, I will be going very slowly, just focus on the sensations.

"Do you not need gloves?" Marsden asked.

"I doubt I can catch anything or carry anything, but I can cure everything from the common cold to small pox." Harry explained as he continued massaging.

Jenson gasped. "My god that is a peculiar feeling."

"Yep, and I haven't even fully removed the numbing charm yet."

"Thank god." He muttered through gritted teeth.

"Are you in pain, Admiral?" The Queen asked with concern.

"Not pain, Your Majesty, the equivalent of a heavy dose of pins and needles."

"I hate that, the other day I woke up and couldn't move both my arms because Nym and Fleur had slept on me funny." Xander grimaced.

"I can't believe you are actually complaining about sleeping with those two gorgeous women." Sirius said disgustedly.

"Hey, I was desperate to pee and they both sleep like the dead." He said defensively.

"Gentlemen, you remind us of our grandsons." The Queen commented dryly. "When they were seven."

Both men looked chastised.

"Ok Admiral, try shifting your leg but don't put any weight on it." Harry instructed.

"Can you cure AIDS?" Marsden asked with a slightly frantic hope.

Harry looked at the Agent carefully, he placed a hand on the Admiral's shoulder and instructed him to keep going slowly but not to try standing yet.

"What happened?" Harry asked as he stood and faced the man.

"My son, Alec. He's a paramedic, there was an accident and an artery started gushing and it got in his eyes. He's been diagnosed with HIV." Marsden slumped into a chair at the table.

"I can cure him, but only close family will be able to know he is cured. People will be wondering how he got cured otherwise."

"It's not a problem. My wife and I can support him financially, he isn't married, no children, he's only 22."

Harry sighed and considered his options.

"Ok, bring him to the Ministry of Magic tomorrow. Sirius can you arrange a room for me to meet them in? You might want to be there as well."

"Changing the world twice in two days, Harry? Wouldn't miss it for the world. But bring Hermione, she'll love seeing it and I'll love seeing her."

"I can't, he'll be under my care, my patient."

"You just invited me. We can both be there for what ever else you have planned."

"My Lord, I don't believe Alec will object." Marsden offered, his earlier franticness was taking a toll and he was beginning to feel weary.

"Ok, we'll sort it out tomorrow, say around 7pm?"

"We'll be there, sir." Marsden breathed in relief.

"Ok Admiral, I believe you have good control over that leg." Harry smirked as he watched the man waving it in the air.

"Nev, Dad give us a hand here?"

Xander took a position behind the Admiral whilst Harry and Neville grasped his arms and helped him up.

"Let's take a slow few circuits around the room." Harry instructed. The group of four maintained their formation as they went.

Whilst the others watched on, General Rothshide turned to the Queen. "For the record Your Majesty, I fully support whatever plans Lord Gryffindor has for helping our soldiers, I've known the Admiral since before we joined up, he finally has that spark he lost decades ago."

"We certainly agree, General. We do not believe that we have any true say in whether Lord Gryffindor proceeds with his plans, but it is merely our duty to aid him and ensure the safety of all our subjects."

"It's a grand day in a man's life when he is given back a lost limb." Moody added having been one of Poppy's test patients whilst Harry tutored at St. Mungo's.

"How is the leg feeling?" Harry asked they began their second circuit. "Does it feel much different from your other leg?"

"No, but I am having to focus on the actual movements for my leg instead of the natural movement." Jenson admitted slowly.

"That's because you haven't had a kneecap and ankle to control properly till now. For about a week or so you will need a walking stick just to help your stability, but try to keep walking and your brain will begin to remember the old routine." Harry conjured an ornate walking stick. "Here, try a circuit on your own."

Harry and Neville backed off and rejoined the others whilst Xander maintained his position shadowing the Admiral from behind.

"Do you have an actual plan written down for all you world changing agendas?" General Rothshide asked with an amused smirk.

"Nope, I'm just winging it and doing what should be done."

"I, for one, am glad he is." Jenson grinned as he rejoined them. "Everything feels right!" He declared with a joyous laugh.

"Excellent, just remember that you might slip up now and again, you might forget that you have two working limbs and try to use the leg the wrong way, it will take a few weeks to get things naturally.

"In the meantime, do you and your wife ever dance?"

"We have attended various functions and danced, yes."

"Good, clear some space at home and start doing a simple box step. It was a Canadian doctor who suggested this as the one movement we take for granted is stepping to the side. It takes a whole set of new motions that aren't covered by walking and can easily catch you by surprise."

"My wife has been asking when the next function will be, this seems like a decent excuse." He sighed.

"Ok, last thing we need to do is cast the Fidelius." Harry declared. "We need to test this so if everyone else would wait here, we will go over there and cast it." Harry said as he led the Admiral to the other side of the room.

"I hate it when he does this." Xander groused.

"You're not the only one." Moody grumbled.

"Does what?" Marsden asked.

"When he casts the Fidelius to cover information we should already know. It's annoying because you know that there is information that you can't remember and it can really bug you. It's fine though if you don't know he's casting it."

"Ok, all done. Now, what did I do?" Harry asked with a grin.

"You… damn! You're right, that is annoying." Sirius said in surprise.

"Something to do with the Admiral's leg… you were going to improve it… or oil it?" Agent Marsden asked dubiously.

"I'm not sure whether I should be insulted by that or not." Jenson remarked with a raised eyebrow.

"You should probably tell them the secret." Harry prompted.

"Ah… yes. I Admiral Anthony Jonas Jenson have two flesh legs." He stated.

"Oh thank Merlin! That feels so much better!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Doctor Emma Granger has a theory that if someone knows the Fidelius is cast and that they should know the secret, not knowing could drive them insane." Harry explained.

"As someone who has been driven half insane, I can confirm that." Sirius groused.

"It works, as annoying as it is." Moody growled unhappily.

"I recommend you don't tell your wife till tomorrow, wait till you've shown her the magical world so she doesn't freak out." Harry advised.

*Chapter 45*: Chapter 45  
"Just to be clear: You have all these wonderful powers that allow you to heal the sick and save people from a life of torturous illness… but you won't use it to help the average non-magical because of some ridiculous laws about secrecy?"

Alec Marsden was both amazed and enraged by the revelation of a secret society of magic. He couldn't believe that there were people claiming to be Healers that allowed people to suffer.

"At the moment we aren't allowed to help overtly, I'm hoping to reveal the magical world within your lifetime."

"And in that time all those people will suffer!" Alec repeated angrily.

"Yep. Unless I get help." Harry smiled.

"Help?" Alec asked incredulously. "All you need is to walk up to the nearest hospital and cure everyone there!"

"Alec, please! Lord Gryffindor has done far more than anyone else in the history of civilisation!" Agent Marsden pleaded.

"I have?" Harry asked dubiously.

Marsden gave Harry a gimlet eye. "I know full well that you are the reason there is no longer a shortage of organs for transplant."

"Meh, I just find it hilarious that there are a whole lot more Aussies wandering around the world." Harry grinned.

"Harry has always wanted to do more, he could go around the laws or ignore them, but as we pointed out a few days ago it's a bad idea." Sirius explained.

"How could it possibly be a bad idea?"

"Harry walked into the local magical hospital and cured everyone who wasn't dying of old age or completely mentally incapacitated. He nearly caused mass panic and hysteria as some of the non-magical raised feared an event of what they called: 'Biblical proportions'."

"How was I supposed to know they would jump to such wild conclusions!" Harry said defensively.

"Common sense would have been a good place to start." Hermione snorted.

"Look, it's obvious that anything on a large scale will cause major problems. But a slightly smaller and obscurer scale will work fine." Harry explained.

"Such as?" Alec asked warily.

"I can't tell you yet and definitely not in front of these people."

"Is it that bad?"

"No Mrs. Jenson, it is highly unlikely Harry has anything but the purest intentions. It is more likely he is looking to give those of us in an official capacity the benefit of plausible deniability." Agent Marsden explained.

"Is that true Milord?" The Admiral asked.

"I can't say." Harry grinned. He turned back to Alec. "I feel like you. Magicals are selfish with their gift and there are too many people suffering. But I can help you help them. All you will need to do is give an oath that you will follow my instructions regarding magic and the secrecy required."

"And if I refuse or change my mind later?"

"I take away the gift I will give you."

"And we will be highly disappointed." Mrs. Marsden warned.

Alec Marsden scowled. He hated these magicals for not helping people. He had seen people in the throes of death caused by everything from gunshots to cancer. And these people did nothing.

But maybe he could change that.

"Fine. I'll do it." He said with a sharp nod.

"Sweeet!" Harry crowed as he jumped up walked through the table (surprising the non-magicals) and placed a hand on Alec's chest. "Just relax, I've never done this before!" He grinned as his hand started to glow.

Alec's eyes widened in shock, he didn't realise he was about to become a guinea pig.

"What hasn't he done before?" Mrs. Marsden asked worriedly.

"He's turning Alec into a wizard." Hermione sighed in mild exasperation. Once again Harry was taking a running jump off a cliff without making sure there was water below first.

"What! He can do that?" Sirius asked as he gaped at the sight of Harry and Alec glowing.

"He's Harry, he can probably turn us into squibs, but it would be counter productive to his goals." Hermione explained. "I need to ask Neville, but I think it is his very nature as the Master of Magic that drives him to spread magic around."

Suddenly the glowing pair of Alec and Harry stopped.

"And you're done. You are now Alec Marsden, Wizard!" Harry announced proudly.

"I am?"

"Yep, hold out your hand and think of making you finger glow… like E.T." Harry instructed. "Remember the feel of the magic I just put into you."

Alec held out his finger, took a deep breath and concentrated.

"Why do they always look like they are constipated?" Harry whispered loudly to Sirius and Hermione.

"You had the same look." Hermione retorted

"Alec, you don't need to force it, you just need to relax and find it. Find the feeling and think of it seeping out of the core in your chest like a stream." Harry advised.

"Attempt to meditate." Hermione added.

Alec nodded closed his eyes and took a few deep calming breaths.

The assembled magicals and non-magicals looked on in awe as Alec began to glow. Harry just chuckled.

"Take that feeling and guide it into your finger, imagine your finger glowing." Harry instructed quietly. "Open your eyes and hold that feeling."

Alec blinked as he saw his finger glowing brightly. "I really am a wizard… you weren't joking." He murmured in awe.

"Nope, and that's just the beginning, try turning it off and playing with it for a few minutes whilst we do something else."

"Harry." Hermione said warningly.

Harry just kissed her cheek and grinned. "Right who's next?"

"You want to make our wives into witches?" Admiral Jenson asked in amusement.

"And their husbands into wizards!"

"Harry, I'm not sure we could accept that, we serve her Majesty." Marsden explained.

"Is there any rule in any part of the British Empire that says you can't do both?" Harry asked.

"There has never been any precedent for such rules."

"Then there is no reason you can't be wizard who is an Admiral or an MI5 agent who is a wizard." He countered.

"I'm not sure I see the benefit of us becoming witches." Mrs. Marsden commented. "We don't fight or heal others. We don't work in government."

"You don't see the benefit of sending a spell at the dirty dishes and laundry that will clean it and put it all away? Of casting a light spell like… Alec…" Harry paused as he noticed Alec was now creating multicoloured strobe lights in both hands. "… like he is so you don't need to carry a torch in the dark when you lose your keys? Or being able to make the couch exceptionally light so you can pick it up and rearrange the furniture?"

"Aren't we a little old to be learning to use magic?" Mrs. Jenson asked.

"Only if you are a dog. OW!" Harry rubbed the back of his head where Hermione had whacked him.

"Be serious and be careful of crossing a line." She warned.

"Right. Sorry that was too much." He said sincerely.

"Not to worry, we've seen enough of you today to know you weren't attempting to be rude." Mrs. Jenson assured them.

"You should be glad his father isn't here, it gets much worse." Sirius commented.

"Says the pot." Marsden chuckled.

"Getting back on track, I recently made a man who is well into his nineties a wizard. He has been doing fine."

"Who?" Hermione asked curiously.

"I can't say. I consider these to be medical procedures so if people want privacy they are covered as my patients." Harry shrugged. "So, who wants to do magic?"

After making four more magicals and getting oaths from the five of them, Harry and Hermione returned home. Harry's plans would likely not get started until the new year.

Percy had spent the day seeing students about their work experience and career choices and was just finishing up when his twin brothers showed up.

"Think you can fit us in Perce?" Fred asked.

"Of course, what's the problem?" He was slightly worried as the pair seemed rather serious and subdued.

"We're thinking of dropping out, we want to start a business." George stated.

Although slightly alarmed, Percy was not surprised. Neither of the twins were academically inclined, granted they were brilliant and according to professors Flitwick and Flamel they were borderline prodigies in their fields.

"What is so important that you can't wait till your NEWTS are in?"

"We really want to open a shop and be the first, but we need money to do it. So we want to focus on developing and selling our joke products and use the money to open the store." Fred explained.

"So… you actually want to open two stores?" He asked slowly.

"No… well… I suppose." Fred considered, he looked to George with a shrug.

"We originally wanted to open just the joke store in Diagon Alley and maybe a branch later in Hogsmede. But we saw a shop in the non-magical world… it sold mainly stationary, books, greeting cards, music and videos. It's called 'W. H. Smiths', but everyone calls it 'Smiths'.

"We wanted to be the first to open a non-magical based store in Diagon Alley and call it 'Arthur's'." George explained with a sad smile.

Percy had tears welling in his eyes, his brothers had never been ones for sentimentality, they were decent people who would stand up for the underdog, but this was something else.

"How about this, you stay in school and complete your NEWTS. Whilst in school we will work as a family to make your dream come true and the family will fund your start up. If we can open it in the summer then you can both be there. Penny is looking for a job in the magical world and this might be what she is looking for or could hold her over till you finish school."

"But the family doesn't have that kind of money!" Fred argued.

"The last thing we want is to be the cause of putting the Weasley family on the streets." George added.

Percy just laughed as tear slid down his cheek, he wiped it away with sniff. He was never so proud of his family.

"The only reason we lived in poverty at the Burrow was because Dad refused to accept more than the bare minimum from Bill and Charlie. Dad's only real failing was his pride and stubbornness for accepting charity.

"Lord Hogwarts pays me very well and provides room and board. The goblins also pay well and as Bill was often overseas on Gringotts business they paid for his room and board. And Charlie… well he lived on site at the sanctuary and has never wanted anything more than to play with the dragons.

"And we haven't even started on how rich Ginny is after inheriting from Luna, Lord Hogwarts made certain she was set for life, and Ginny and Luna just kept on improving on that."

Percy sat back and gazed at his brothers with a smile. "The only reason you two aren't making money is because you have yet to have the chance. You've seen your chance and you are grasping for it. I have very little doubt you will succeed and have no doubts that the family will want to help you achieve it."

Narcissa Lupin was positively glowing as she went about her filing. She was recently married and had just discovered she was pregnant. Her husband was the headmaster of the local school and she was the deputy mayor. Life was finally good.

Especially as it seemed that Remus and Lord Hogwarts were planning on phasing out the Lupine Academy in favour of the werewolf students finally being accepted into Hogwarts. Many families were dubious about this as they feared the persecution, but they had absolute in faith Remus and their king.

"Greetings Cissy!"

Narcissa squealed as she was startled, she span around with her hands ready to throw spells.

"Lord Gryffindor! You scared me!" She said breathlessly.

"Yeah, and I will do so again and again till you learn to drop the titles in private! Your husband calls me 'cub'! That makes me your cub too ya know!" Harry said pointedly.

"And a finer 'cub' we couldn't ask for." She smirked. "Now, Harry, what can I do for you?" She asked as she took a seat behind her desk.

"Where did you live when you were married to Lucius?"

Cissy's face scrunched in distaste. "Malfoy Manor, disgusting, Riddle actually lived there. I was never more afraid in my life."

"And where is Malfoy Manor?"

"It's… erm… oh dear, I know it's in Wiltshire, I just can't seem to remember where exactly." She frowned.

"Don't worry, you just answered my real question. Malfoy Manor is in fact under a Fidelius charm, I know where it is, I just have to crack the charm."

"Then why were you asking me?" She asked curious.

"I knew that something was hidden in Wiltshire and that Riddle is hidden there, but I didn't know what was hidden there."

"You know where the bastard is?" She gasped. "What are you going to do?"

"Kill him."

"Really?" She snapped dryly. "How, what is your plan?"

"Crack the Fidelius and then sneak in, kill or drain all the Death Eaters and then drain and kill Riddle."

"Drain? Oh Merlin, let me guess. You're father, being the King of the Werewolves, has led you to become the King of the Vampires."

"What? Ew! No! Drain them magically, make them less than squibs."

"You can do that?" She asked in awe.

"Yeah, I started doing it whilst we were cleaning out the Ministry, if I remove the core altogether they can't even see magic, they become like non-magicals." He grinned.

"That would be a truly terrifying punishment for a Pureblood." She admitted. "How long before you attack?"

"Can't say, all the details will be held on a need to know basis and even then everything will be decided at the last minute."

Narcissa frowned thoughtfully. "Remus and I will come to Hogwarts for dinner, afterwards I will give you a set of my memories of the Manor and a tour."

"Harry James Potter Harris McGonagall Summers! Next time you come asking me for anything I will be running in the opposite direction!"

Harry winced as Narcissa Lupin's irate voice screeched in his ear.

"Jeeze, what did Dad do? Send out a newsletter with my full name attached?" Harry groused.

Harry was currently just inside the border of the Fidelius charm that surrounded Malfoy Manor. As soon as they had finished dinner, Harry had teleported Xander, Remus, Narcissa and Neville straight to the meeting room where they usually held conference with the Queen and her officers. He had then gone to retrieve said Queen and her people.

What followed was a very brief outline of Harry's plan followed by the revelation that he intended to finish it that same night. Which led to him being with a hundred meters of Tom Riddle at this moment in time.

"Ok, I'm through, Malfoy Manor is in Wiltshire."

"We see it Harry." Came Xander's voice, they were using non-magical methods of communication so that the non-magicals would be in the loop. "It's just appeared on all the monitors, there are a lot of people in that house."

Calling Malfoy Manor a house was a bit of an understatement, it was definitely a sprawling country manor.

"Right, before any of you decide to enter, you should know that it will be a one way trip until I defeat Riddle. I kind of inverted the Fidelius charm."

"Come again?" Remus asked.

"Anybody who comes into the Fidelius will find that the location of the rest of the world is protected by that same Fidelius.

"So this could very well be a one way trip and should only be a volunteer-"

"Shut up and get on with it." Neville mutter as he appeared behind Neville with an assortment of goblin and werewolf soldiers.

"Bunch 'o suicidal lunatics… " Harry muttered as he began walking towards the manor.

The plan was simple, Harry would enter the manor alone. This part of the plan was debated heatedly for all of ten seconds before Harry cast a high level, wide area Impedimentia spell and told them they had no choice and reminded them he was immortal after all.

Anyway, once in the building he would wander around whilst invisible and would drain every Death Eater he came across… if he could he would drain Riddle as well.

Harry went through each room slowly draining the Death Eaters and knocking out the ones he could. The ones he could knock out he could drain completely and quickly, but the ones that were awake had to be done very slowly otherwise they would feel the drain. They wouldn't be able to explain it, but they would notice it.

By the time he was done he had knocked out a quarter of the 77 Death Eaters and nabbed most of their wands, there were some he couldn't take as they would notice they were missing or not working if he tampered with them. The rest he had drained.

It took him three hours, he started at eleven pm and it was now coming up for two am.

"I'm heading for Riddle, don't move until I've determined if I can drain him or not." Harry warned over the radio.

If Harry couldn't drain him he would simply dismember the foul creature. Unfortunately he had to be careful or Riddle would fight him and the last time that happened he got his butt kicked. Although this time he wouldn't be forced to defend people as well.

Riddle was seated on a garish throne on a raised dais in the main dining hall. The hall had clearly been remodelled in order to look like a place where a monarch would hold court. Around the room were several Death Eaters standing at guard.

Riddle was reading a copy of the Daily Prophet, he also had a whole host of other newspapers on a table at his side.

Harry was rather disgusted that Riddle followed the same habits as the Prime Minister and the Queen.

Harry calmly walked up and stood behind Riddle on his throne, it was a testament to Riddle's lack of trust that he didn't have guards behind him. The first thing Harry noticed was that Riddle had a huge core. But he did actually have one unlike himself where his whole being was merely a relay through which magic was utilised. He slowly began to drain the magic… it looked like it was going to be a long, long, long night.

At 3 am, Harry was nearly halfway done. Riddle was now at the level of an average wizard, but Harry was getting worried, Riddle had to be getting tired and would eventually decide to go and sleep, granted Death Eaters tended to work at night.

He stepped away from Riddle and cast a silencing charm on himself.

"Command, this is Potter, you there?"

"We're here Harry, how much longer?" Came Xander's voice.

"Too long at this rate. I've got Riddle down to an average wiz, all the Death Eaters are drained. I think we should make one last push before Riddle decides to move from his throne room."

"Probably for the best, his bedroom is likely to be highly warded." Xander agreed.

"You have a plan, I take it?" Remus asked.

"I'm going to drain him quickly, he will definitely notice, but then I want you to destroy the horcrux containers to release the soul fragments, at the same time the strike teams will make their moves and I will reveal myself and handle Riddle."

"Wait five minutes for the strike teams to get into place, then there will be back up in the room to handle the Death Eaters leaving you free to focus on Riddle." Xander amended the plan.

"Make it quick." Harry responded.

Harry watched the various magical signatures enter the room and take positions by the guards.

"Ok, everyone ready?" Harry asked.

There was a series of responses as the various teams confirmed their statuses.

"On three: one, two, three!"

Throughout the manor Death Eaters dropped on the spot, the occasional room which had more Death Eaters than strike team members featured a quick draw by a wizard either to find nothing happening or no wand.

Neville and Remus cast spells at the horcruxes releasing the soul shards and allowing them to speed back to Riddle.

Harry slammed his hands down on Riddle's shoulders pulling the magic from him as fast as he could. Riddle screamed in surprise and fear at the sudden assault in his supposedly secure room. He struggled to free himself from the iron like grip but his magically constructed body was an abomination and it was flawed, with a distinct lack of strength.

Riddle suddenly felt an oppressive wave of depression which quickly came into conflict with his rising fury.

"Ah shit!" Harry cried, they had forgotten one important fact about the soul fragments. They were fragments of a magical being and contained magic themselves. Riddle had received a significant power boost when his soul fragments rejoined him.

Harry was dead tired and just wanted to sleep… he just needed one more minute.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Riddle screamed. There was no physical pain, but he was experiencing a multitude of emotions he hadn't felt in decades. Fear was the worst one.

Riddle kept struggling, hope growing as he felt his captor weaken. Eventually he managed to break free and fell sprawling from his throne and down the steps of the dais.

Harry collapsed, completely drained. He really wanted to sleep.

Riddle struggled to his feet and whipped his wand out… he was shocked to recognise the feeling that he had his other 'wand' back as well… it hadn't reappeared at his rebirth, he figured it was because his new body was made to be without weakness… and that particular… feature… was a weakness.

Riddle threw a blasting curse at his throne angrily. As the dust settled he saw the figure lying down behind it covered in debris.

He stalked closer.

"POTTER!" He shouted angrily. "You were foolish to come here, but you've saved me the trouble of having to come to you. I will cut off your limbs and parade your body down Diagon Alley." He snarled.

Harry hadn't been idle whilst lying on the floor, he had slowly been absorbing more magic and using it to wake himself up. He had purposely prevented himself from absorbing Riddle's magic as he didn't want to have to deal with the taint.

He was no where near 100% but he was getting close 50%. He sat up groggily. "Please stop shouting, I'm not deaf." He moaned.

Riddle was slightly taken aback by the lack of fear and abundance of apathy in the boy's response. After the last time he had Potter captive, in the graveyard, he would have assumed the boy would be terrified and near catatonic. Riddle wasn't quite quick enough to realise that Harry had voluntarily entered his palace.

Riddle flicked his wand at Harry and a small burst of light impacted his shoulder ripping through his clothes and making a light incision in the skin, said skin was open for less than a second.

"Please don't do that." Harry sighed.

Riddle stared at the tip of his wand in shock, as if his wand had betrayed him.

"Diffindo!" He hissed.

This time the incision was deeper, he actually made it into the flesh… before it closed up again.

"DIFFINDO! DIFFINDO! DIFFINDO!" Riddle roared as his wand moved in overly exaggerated slashes.

"Are you finished?" A bored Harry asked a panting Riddle. "I really should finish what I started."

Without waiting for a response, Harry strode forward and slapped his hands to the side of Riddle's head which disorientated the monster giving Harry the time he needed to completely sap Riddle of all of his power.

Riddle was now a 'muggle'.

"What did you do to me?" He asked in a panic.

"Guess." Harry smirked as he sent a stunner at the creature causing him to fall to the ground in an unconscious heap.

"Mission accomplished, Riddle is down and de-magicified!" Harry reported over the radio.

"Erm… define 'de-magicified'?" Xander asked.

"He's not even a squib, he won't be able to sense the Leaky Cauldron, a Dementor could waltz right up and he'd never see it."

"We have this breaking news just in. The terrorist responsible for the recent atrocities in the United Kingdom has been captured along with his entire terrorist organisation. In a joint MI5 operation with Scotland Yard a raid was carried out at a classified location.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle and his self proclaimed group known as the Death Eaters were all captured with no injuries or fatalities. Early reports speculate that they were involved in supremacy and ethnic cleansing.

"We will bring you more on this as we have it."

The family sat, watching the 6 o'clock morning news in gobsmacked awe. Tom Riddle aka Lord Voldemort and his minions were being talked about on the non-magical news. They even had pastel court drawings of him.

"You bastard!"

"OW! Hermione, stop that!"

"Stop your damned complaining, you barely feel pain anymore!

"It hurts my feelings?"

"Pfft! You went off and defeated a dark lord without even saying goodbye… who the hell cares about your feelings?"

"I would have told you but there were operational security considerations!"

"Don't you pull that crap with me, Potter!"

"For the love of god please stop hitting me!"

"I'll stop hitting you when my hand starts to hurt!"

"What about Dad! He went off too."

"Hey, leave me out of this."

"Don't worry Harry, you're father will be dealt with, right Fleur."

"Absolutely. We are supposed to do these things as a family."

"This was a stealth mission! I was literally the only person who could do it and not wind up leaving a blood bath behind!"

"Looks like the blood bath is happening here."

"Shut up Sal, you're not helping!"

"Wasn't trying to little brother. I'm pretty peeved too."

"ALRIGHT ENOUGH!" Harry stood up angrily. "You lot don't seem to understand something here. First of all, I was never in any danger. Even when I nearly fell asleep I was fine. You CAN NOT KILL ME!" Harry roared. "Second of all, this was always my mission. Not because of any damned prophecy, or revenge just because it was my mission! Thirdly, I needed to do this so I could live my life! I'm fifteen fucking years old and I've never really had a chance to live my childhood. I may never get to live my childhood. I want lots of kids so I can live through them. I think I've earned that right.

"And finally, you seem to be very happy to show a distinct lack of respect for my abilities. You seem to forget that my plan was approved by the Queen of England, the Prime Minister of England, the Armed Forces, MI5, the King of the Goblins and Werewolves and TWO FUCKING PHONIXES!"

Any possible response was lost on Harry as he teleported out.

There was a very uncomfortable silence for about a minute.

It was eventually broken by Narcissa. "I realise I am not part of your family, and I am no soldier or Auror. But what I saw Harry do today was enough for me to never doubt him again. He could have taken me in with him and I would never have been in danger."

"Aunt Cissy, that is the biggest load of bull I have ever heard." Nym scowled. "You are definitely part of this family."

"You were right about everything else though." Fleur smiled sadly.

"You've been very quiet about all this Minerva, what are your views?" Godric asked.

Minerva looked them all in the eyes, as if judging their thoughts and motives. Then she sighed. "Harry is my beloved son. The child I never had. I would gladly die with him. But that act in itself is likely to be one of the few things that could actually kill him.

"He is my son. I will never be comfortable with anything that could put him at risk if he were mortal.

"But he is a prince. A lord. He is so far beyond us that it is a pure blessing that he deigns to acknowledge us as family and friends.

"Are we really worthy to judge his actions?"

"I'm not judging his actions in the field, Minerva." Hermione said with a sad shake of her head. "I'm judging his actions with the family. He should have told us. Warned us even that there was a possibility that one day he might come home and we would be shocked into silence by reports of his activities on the news.

"As far as I am concerned, Harry deserves every award possible… hell, he deserves a Blue Peter Badge… a gold one!

"But he definitely needs to understand what we go through when we hear about this stuff, even if it is after the fact."

There was another moment of contemplative silence.

Broken by a snort from Sal. "I'm just pissed he didn't let me join in."

Harry was exceptionally powerful. He couldn't just go off and blow things up… he might accidentally blow up the world. Hitting things was also a problem as he tended to inadvertently channel his magic into his muscles making him exceptionally strong.

So he had grabbed Neville and taken him off to do something both constructive and destructive.

Blowing large holes in Africa.

"Harry seems angry." The local village chief commented offhandedly.

"He's being judged by people who have no right to judge him… but he also screwed up and didn't tell his woman what he was doing." Neville shrugged.

The old man laughed. "He is young, he will learn to never cross a woman!"

Harry had first arrived in this village a week ago. He had been watching the morning news when he saw reports on droughts and AIDS in Africa.

He wanted to cure their illnesses and at least provide them with food and water.

He had travelled to South Africa where he had attended a medical conference, then shifted to his dragon form and started flying North looking for the first village he could find.

He had encountered a huge problem when he arrived. He couldn't speak their language. On a hunch he had grabbed Neville, he never seemed to have trouble talking to anyone.

Neville had this amazing ability to understand and speak to anyone.

Mainly because he had a knack for the translation charm and Harry sucked at it.

The first thing they had done was cured everything from the three villagers with AIDS to the village chief with the in-grown toenail.

The second thing they had done was head back to London and stock up on food and bottled water before bringing it back to the village.

They had planned to come back and create a well for water and maybe transport some good dirt for growing.

Harry had apparently decided to create a lake instead of a well as he was currently blasting away at the dry land.

"What the devil is Harry doing?" Hermione asked as she appeared next Neville.

"Venting his anger by changing the world."

"By chipping away at it a bit at a time?"

"By making a crater to create an artificial lake."

"Oh… that makes a whole lot more sense."

Hermione then noticed that she was in the middle of a village… and not your typical English village. Especially as there wasn't a white guy in sight.

"Neville, where are we?"

"Africa, no idea on the specifics. Harry brought me here earlier in the week."

"He needed you to translate."

"He keeps saying he has eternity to learn it so he'll do it later."

"I'm sure I can find some incentive for him.

"Anything I can do to help around here?"

"Head back to London and get some more food and water. Milk too, the kids need it."

"They all look like they need it." She said sadly as she vanished.

"That was Harry's 'woman'?"

"Yeah, when Harry calms down she'll talk to him and sort him out."

"As women usually do, makes me wonder why they never just take up the role of chief."

"Because this way they don't get the blame for any mistakes."

"Women. Positively diabolical."

The sound of rock being destroyed suddenly stopped. To the north of the village was a crater two hundred meters deep and eight hundred meters in diameter.

"That's going to need a lot of water."

"We're not going to fill the whole thing Neville, if we did that then the village would get flooded when it rained, besides, we need to put the appropriate rocks and plant life in as well, otherwise the water will go stagnant."

"The Internet?"

Harry snorted. "I thought Dad was nuts when he went on about it when he first arrived."

"Yeah, but the real amusing thing is he hasn't a clue how to use it properly."

"Nym does… and that was a disturbing insight into my step-mother."

"Oh?"

"She is a definite 'Nymph'. She seems obsessed with sex. And she isn't ashamed about it… I walked into their rooms to find her looking for porn… she said she was looking for more ways to experiment with Dad and Fleur… I DIDN'T NEED TO KNOW THAT!"

"At least she isn't trying to give you tips and find out all the details from you!" Hermione said in annoyance as she reappeared with several shopping trolleys of food.

"But we haven't done anything yet!"

"She seems to forget you are only 15."

"She's only going to get worse." Harry sighed.

There was a few moments of uncomfortable silence as the reason for Harry blasting away at Africa came back.

"I'll go distribute the food." Neville grinned as he wandered off with the trolleys floating behind him.

"You made a big mistake Harry."

"Not this again 'Mione. I already-"

"You assumed! I wasn't upset that about your plans, or what you did! I was upset that you went off and didn't tell us… even if you couldn't tell us you should have told us before we saw it on the morning news!"

"She's right Harry!" Came the distant call from Neville.

Harry just glared in his direction. He turned back and saw Hermione with a very irritated look on her face. "Fine, maybe I handled that bit badly, but like I said, I'm only fifteen, I think I could be given a little slack regarding those things, especially as I had just finished debriefing Her Majesty and her advisors… it's not like Dad or Neville said anything."

"Leave me out of this!" Again the distant tones of the human phoenix floated over.

"Fine, maybe we jumped on you a bit-"

"A bit?" Harry asked incredulously. "I just took out the most evil wizard ever and my family doesn't say 'Hey, nice job Harry' or 'Are you ok' they just start laying into me about what I did wrong."

At this Hermione realised she and the rest of them had really screwed up. "I'm sorry. I guess we didn't think before we acted."

"Yeah… well…" Harry just sighed in defeat. "Let's just drop it. I'm sure the whole damned thing will get re-hashed soon enough?"

"Sure… so what are you up to now?" She asked as she gestured to the large crater.

"Stomping out AIDS and famine and drought in third world countries." He said perking up a bit.

"Where are you going to get the water from?" She asked.

"I figured I'd siphon off some water from reservoirs from all over the world."

"How do you intend to transport it?"

"Transfigure a big bucket and teleport it." Harry smirked.

Hermione just rolled her eyes. "How about a different method that will also ensure that the water won't dry up?"

"Oh?"

"You know the spell you use to recycle blood back into the body when you perform surgery? There's a rune based method that does the same thing."

"You want to do the same thing with the crater and reservoirs?"

"No, the oceans. It might put a drain on communities that need the reservoirs."

"They can't drink salt water." Harry said as he smacked his tongue in disgust.

"There are water purifying charms, Harry."

"Oh… I knew I forgot something!"

"The charms?"

"No, making the villagers witches and wizards." Harry smacked his forehead at his stupidity. "Can you handle the water transfer whilst I go and magic up the villagers?"

"I will need to call in help and you will to give permission as they are all friends from school. Also, we will need you to get us to the ocean, we will need to be under water to make the markings on the ocean floor."

"Ok… erm… well, we'll finish up here and then do it in the morning, I do have a class to teach in an hour." Harry remembered.

Harry, Hermione and Neville arrived back at the Hogwarts Great Hall to find breakfast in full swing.

"HARRY! HARRY! HARRY!"

The whole assembled school chanted in joy as the saviour of the wizarding world arrived. Then Harry noticed the members of the Ministry and press. There were news cameras there.

"What the-"

"Harry!" Hermione snapped.

"Well… the good news is that you probably won't have to do this again for a good few years." Neville smirked.

Harry just glared at his friend.

"Come on Harry, you know the drill. Tell your story and answer some questions." Xander smiled as he waved Harry over to the now familiar stool.

Harry sighed in defeat and the trio made their way to the staff table.

On a small table next to the stool was the pensieve. Harry stared at it and then frowned. There had to be an easier way. He looked up at the ceiling where the illusion of the sky was showing a dismal November morning.

He gestured to the large wall above the staff table and focused on his memory of the previous night.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is what happened." He said loudly.

What followed was an hour of watching Harry stealthily make his way through the manor before dealing with Riddle. He made sure to skip the boring parts.

When it was over he turned and sat on the stool to find the entire gathering still staring at the now blank wall.

"Ahem! You have questions?" He asked with a smirk.

Slowly several hands went up.

"Pad." Harry said indicating Padma Patil.

"Could he have beaten you at the end?" She asked worriedly. "When you were on the floor."

"No, I was still immortal. Still Death and still the Master of Magic. He could have blasted away at me and nothing would have really happened."

"Then why did you collapse?"

"Because I stopped myself from taking in magic whilst I was draining him." Harry shuffled in his seat. "Look, I always tell you that magic is neither light nor dark. It's the spells that shape it. But Riddle was one big spell, I didn't want to risk absorbing his darkness in case it affected me. Besides, it felt dirty enough just touching him." Harry shuddered.

"Next question: Jack." Harry indicated one of the first year boys.

"Is he dead?" The boy, a first generation wizard, asked timidly.

"Nope, he is no more a threat than a kitten. Mum a demonstration please?" He asked the Transfigurations Professor.

Said Professor just glared back at him.

"Maybe later then." Harry gulped. "He's going to be tried in wizarding court and then sent to a non-magical prison. Dad wanted to send him to a Turkish Prison but we'll be sending him into a general prison."

"Will he be able to escape?"

"Unlikely, but even if he did, he has no magic. A flea has more magic than him. This means that he will never be able to find the magical world.

"Next: Ernie!"

"What are you going to do now?"

Harry paused… a simple question, but now the possibilities were endless, it all boiled down to one word.

"Live… "

Millions of years later

Neville always felt guilty when he had to leave Harry alone. But he had to return to the realm of the Phoenixes now and again. The problem was that there was no real sense of time, the only indication of time passing was a sudden prompting that a Phoenix was needed back in their world.

There was little that could be done for Harry until now. He was the last living being on the planet.

In this particular reality.

He had been for the past eight million years. Humanity had made a good run of it, but eventually they had ceased to be.

Harry had been alone ever since.

Neville looked up at the beautiful Hogwarts castle. The only reason it still stood was because Harry wanted it to. He walked through the doors reminiscing about all the fun times they had as kids. Joyce and Godric had finally been released from their horcruxes. It seems that they had stayed too long in the mortal realm and Harry had a distinct urge and desire for them to move on. They attributed it to his being Death, but the sadness they felt was only because they didn't want to abandon their respective son and brother.

Neville wandered by the now inert portraits, to make a portrait magical you needed to imprint on a soul, but souls aren't meant to stay on the mortal realm forever.

Unless you are Death.

He made his way to the Great Hall where he found Harry sitting on a couch just staring straight ahead. Harry sucked at the mental mind arts but he had learnt to simply meditate. It helped stave off the boredom. There was no telling how long he could go, his current record just over half a million years.

"Harry?" Neville called gently.

There was no response. He knew there was no point in nudging him or hitting him, the only thing that would wake him was the only thing that could hurt him, at least temporarily.

Neville's hand was engulfed in flame and he gripped Harry's hand causing it to burn and blacken.

"Ow." Harry commented lightly. "Oh, your back… bring me any good stories?" He asked sadly.

"A few." Neville said with a sad smile. Harry had grown into a fun loving person, he played with his children which he always had as he had had many girlfriends and wives. But millions of years of being alone had deadened that. It was still there, just smothered under the weight of loneliness.

"But how would you like some hope instead?" Neville asked.

"Sure, but if you're playing with me, Phoenix or no, I'll kick your butt."

Neville conjured an armchair and sat down. "This is now considered a Dead Realm. It has no purpose. In about another 100 million years the universe will implode and simply become a void.

"You, have no purpose here. But the Phoenix Council feels you are to good to leave to this fate. They have decided to move you to another reality, one that could use your experience."

"Real people?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Real living people. With souls."

"Souls." Harry whispered reverently. Harry could sense souls, it was what made his loneliness so potent, there were no souls, not even the souls of animals. He had felt the loss as each of the last souls vanished from his world. It had nearly driven him insane.

"You will have a mission, aside from your usual duties befitting your nature."

"Oh?"

"There is an emerging sub-species, like wizards. They call themselves mutants because they have an additional gene. But there is more to it than that.

"They have been persecuted because of what they are and what they can do. They didn't have someone like you to set them up to be seen as angels and benefactors like you did with witches and wizards."

"So you want me to go in and retroactively make them wanted?"

"We want you to go in and live." Neville said earnestly. "The Phoenix Council looks on you as one of their own. You are family to us. If we could bring you into the White Hot Room then we would.

"The problem is, you are beyond us. We are technically your inferiors."

Harry scowled at that. He had spent his first eleven years of life as an inferior. He had spent the rest of it being considered a superior. All he really wanted was to be an equal.

"Stop that." Neville snapped playfully. "You are what you are. We can't change it, but we can try and give you this gift of a new start."

"Then lets go!" Harry said jumping up.

Neville smiled, happy to see some joy back in his best friends eyes.

"Not just yet. There is something you need to help me with first."

"A catch?" He asked suspiciously. For a moment he thought he might be hallucinating, Neville would never do that to him.

"No, I really do need a hand. Meet my fellow human phoenix."

There was a flash of fire and a statuesque red headed woman in a skin-tight outfit appeared before them.

The End.

A/N: Yes, this is the end of this story. Yes, there would appear to be a few unanswered questions like Lucius Malfoy. Yes there is a sequel of sorts, it is an HP/X-Men crossover and starts where this story leaves off. It currently has 60,000 words and I am still writing and no where near finished. The story also contains flashbacks to events that occur after Harry defeated Riddle so that some of those unanswered questions will be answered.

Finally, I would like to thank those of you who were supportive of this story and my work. For those of you who made plot suggestions, they don't get used but I do enjoy them. The reason they don't get used is because I never post a story until it is completely finished and I have read it several times. But this means that when I post a story you get a new chapter everyday!


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